Are Hispanics the new largest ethnic minority group—key emphasis on “group”?
According to published reports, early results from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest that the Hispanic population is officially the country’s second-largest group comprising 16.3 percent, or 50.5 million, of the U.S. population. This information, while interesting, raises a number of questions, such as who are these Hispanics, where do they come from, and more importantly, how does their new ethnic status in America determine their political and social clout?
Much like the Asian and African-American populations, (which have long been a thorn in the side of mixed-race identifiers, as well as newly immigrated blacks from Africa and the Caribbean Islanders), the Hispanic designation will undoubtedly face the same political, racial and social challenges.
The term “Hispanic” was first used to describe people from the Iberian Peninsula, also known as Hispania. Yet the Hispanic-identifier didn’t really take shape until the census in 1970 when it was used to define anyone from “Latin America,” as well as parts of the Caribbean. The use of the term itself is still heavily debated and is sometimes interchanged with Latino or Spanish. It has sort of become a cultural conundrum since it often lumps together folks regardless of national and cultural identity, religious affiliation and even race.
Consider the 2010 Census questionnaire when question eight asked whether a filer was a person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. It then listed possible answers ranging from Mexican-American to Cuban to Spaniard. It might all seem harmless and interchangeable, however I personally know Puerto Ricans, some Dominicans and a few Mexicans that might snap your neck if you even dare confuse the three.
Politically speaking, although there is an appeal to treat Hispanics as a homogeneous group, Hispanics cannot be put into neat camps of Republican and Democratic voters. Cubans tend to lean more to the right whereas Mexicans lean more democratic. Among the Hispanic vote, 14 percent identified as Republicans, 54 percent as Democrats, 18 percent as independent and 7 percent as other.
For example, though Puerto Ricans may be sympathetic to the plight of immigration issues, as U.S. citizens, the vast majority of the group might not feel as personally impacted as Mexicans and other South American Hispanics. The same could be said for Cuban Americans, whose immigrant status has not necessarily compelled them to vote outside of the Republican Party.
And let us not forget about color. As question nine on the census demonstrated, Hispanics in this country are still expected to identify themselves by race. Full data information on the racial breakdown of this year’s census has yet to be released, but on the 2000 census, more than 50 percent of Hispanics chose white while only 2.7 percent identified themselves as black. An even smaller percentage chose American Indian.
According to reports, white and black Hispanics — as well as Hispanics who say that they are “some other race” — earn different levels of pay and reside in segregated neighborhoods based on the shade of their skin. Hispanics that describe themselves as white typically have higher incomes and the lowest rate of unemployment while black Hispanics typically have lower incomes and a higher rate of unemployment.
Hispanics have internal intra-racial and class distinction issues amongst themselves, which have existed prior to their arrival in this country. Now, these issues might only be accentuated in our so-called post-racial society as policymakers and researchers disregard all that and clamor to label and categorize Hispanics into one convenient pot.
Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.
