# Why is Hispanic/Latino apparently the only ethnicity in the universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 29, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850 "2013-07-29T22:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850/41 "2013-07-30T18:40:30Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Good points about the Chinese and Middle Eastern populations in Latin America. (The most famous example of the latter might be Shakira.) But, as someone else pointed out, there might not be enough of these folks _who live in the US_ to make it worth including separate categories for them in, say, census forms. But I’d have no objection if they _did_ include them. > > (How do the US census forms handle “Middle Eastern,” anyway? As a separate, unique, and unitary “race”? Or just as “white”? Or do the ones from, say, Iraq check “Asian” due to their continent, while the Tunisians check “Africa” due to theirs? No, that would be idiotic…) > > ETA: Ninja’d by KarlGrenze with the Shakira reference! Hmmm…Shakira in a ninja outfit…nice…but I digress… Well, first of all the census form, which **SuperAbe** was so nice to link to, has one catch-all option called “Some Other Race”, where you can enter whatever you want, if what you want to call yourself isn’t listed. Second, if you consider yourself Amerindian, there’s a space to indicate your specific tribe, if you want. Third, if you’re Asian, there are a whole bunch of more specific checkboxes to choose from, everything from Chinese to Samoan. And of course, if you’re “other Asian”, there’s a space to fill in whatever you want. And you can check multiple boxes if that fits. So it’s really more flexible that people who haven’t looked at the question seem to think. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850/42 "2013-07-30T18:53:28Z")
Because, with White people becoming a minority in a few decades, we will need to eventually annex other ethnic groups. Sort of the way we did with Jews, Italians and Irish! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850/43 "2013-07-30T21:14:37Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > That’s true. But I think the forms mainly are concerned about things that are visually identifiable. If what we are saying is that Hispanic/Latino is a ethnicity and not a race because you can have a background that includes white European, Mayan, African, or Asian, I fail to see how Latinos are visually identifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850/44 "2013-07-30T21:35:21Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > If what we are saying is that Hispanic/Latino is a ethnicity and not a race because you can have a background that includes white European, Mayan, African, or Asian, I fail to see how Latinos are visually identifiable. They aren’t…I don’t think that’s the reason. I think that Hispanic ethnicity is of interest for two reasons. First, it’s 18% of the US population, which is a substantial number. Second, I would say it’s by far the largest ethnic group that has a culture that is still outside the mainstream culture. A large portion of that 18% is bilingual, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850/45 "2013-07-30T21:43:32Z")
They may not be visually identifiable, but they can be identified as “other, non-white” (or not the type of white my granny is) audiably. So they can still be somewhat easily discriminated unless they remain silent (and less face it, that is hard for us 😉 ). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hispanic-latino-apparently-the-only-ethnicity-in-the-universe/664850.md?page=2)