Boogers

Part III

Article Number: 4, page 209
Going Beyond Black and White, Hispanics in Census Pick “Other”

Part A:
After reading the article, I learned how Hispanics feel about their heritage in regards to to having to put themselves in one category for the census.   I also learned that there are words to describe skin shades and ancestry like “moreno” and “indio.”   In the 2000 census count, almost half of the Hispanic respondants refused to identify themselves under any of the five categories.   Of these, fourty-eight percent identified themselves as white, while only two percent chose black.

Part B:
I chose this article because, not only did it give statistics, but personal stories and viewpoints from individuals.   It was also the longest article and had the most, and best, information on the subject.

Part C:
The article tells stories of different Latin people living in the US.   First is the story of Patria Rodriguez.   It tells us about her complexion and physical feature and the stereotypes that people categorize her in.   She does not identify herself by any race, rather by Latina, Hispanic, or Puerto Rican.   In Israel Coats’ case, he is Dominican with dark skin.   In America, he is categorized as black, but in the Dominican Republic, he is “indio” or Indian.   In the Dominican Republic, “black” is commonly used to describe people of Haitian descent.   Mario Goderich is light skinned with brown hair.   He considers himself to be both Hispanic and white.   In his family, they are considered “jabao” or “light skinned mulatto.”
Throughout the story, the United States Census is the main focus, other than how subjects group themselves and their ethnicities.   The US Census offers five categories to chose from as far as race is concerned.   None of these include anything along the lines of Hispanic or Latin.   People of Hispanic/Latin descent are then forced to choose between Black, White, Asian, Pacific Islander, or Native American.   This brings about a huge... [continues]

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