Getting Rid of Hispanics

Mods, I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the Education forum, please move if its in the wrong place.

As those of you in the US know, this year is the census year. I don't know if its part of the census process, but our school recently sent home a form for parents to fill out.

On the form:
African-American
White
Pacific Islander
Asian
Bi-Racial
American Indian


BUT NOT HISPANIC!

There are a lot of hispanic families in my school, and many who are extremely upset about this. Which got me to thinking. Why leave out the hispanic population?

Could it be that the government realizes the hispanic population is approaching the size of the African-American population, and therefore might become the new major minority (I know that's an oxymoron).

If the hispanics are the largest minority, would this take away funds from the African American minority? I don't know much about this, so I thought I'd ask my friends at ATS.

Perhaps I'm over reacting, but this seems wrong to me. Can someone help explain it?

[edit on 23-2-2010 by smyleegrl to change race to ethnicity]

[edit on 23-2-2010 by smyleegrl]

[edit on 23-2-2010 by smyleegrl]

Yer except GiGi Spice!

If there is a space for "other" just write in "HUMAN" and give it a check mark.

reply to post by Alethea


...or, 'All of the above'.

Racism is alive and well.

But tha'ts the problem....there is no space for other.

A lot of the hispanics I talked to have chosen Asian. Not sure why.

Does no one else really see a problem with this?

Or is it a ploy to discredit bilingualism i.e. English Spanish. This is very worrying as a number of people will become invisible.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Legally, (or socially, I'm not sure which applies -- both I guess) hispanics are considered white.

This changed on all the forms I use years ago. If they are hispanic, you check "white", same as you would for middle easterners.

Even law enforcement forms reflect the same choices, which puzzles me as to how we are to keep viable statistics on what is happening in specific venues. Nonetheless, there it is.

Something which confuses me in this is the form being sent to parents through schools. If this was part of the census, it certainly would only pertain to those couples who have children.

Is this an official form distributed throughout the US or is it only a local questionaire?

reply to post by smyleegrl


Yes, I do see it as a slight and a cause for hurt feelings. That's why I thought my answer might 'one-up' them. You could always refuse it by saying your ethnic group must not be required because you are not on the list....but then that might reflect badly on your child.

You could make a 'write-in' space off to the side and add whatever you like.

Or choose another ethnic group out of conformity to the form and months from now some one will realize the typo omission and all of you will have screwed up the count.

Anyway you do it, it's more power to you. You all will one-up them either way!

Another misleading and poorly researched ATS post. Sorry folks. The US Census has always treated teh 'Hispanic' classification differently than a mere race designation because THAT is the way the hispanic community ASKED for it to be handled. The reason is because differnt hispanics identify themselves with differnt racial groups.

There is a totally separate question specifically related to hispanic identification. On the shortform it is quyestion #8.

US Census 2010 Short-form

So as you can see, no conspiracy to erase hispanics. This is the way it has been handled in all census forms going back several decades.

reply to post by smyleegrl


"Hispanic" is not a race. It is a nationality. There are really only 4 generally accepted "races" of human. Some people consider it an "ethnicity," but we are all "ethnic" to some degree.

Don't they teach sociology in your school, or were you just not paying attention?

Second, the US Census Bureau does not rely on schools for the census. Yours must be a school district product.

Deny ignorance.

jw

[edit on 23-2-2010 by jdub297]

reply to post by masqua


I've asked several of my teacher friends in other states, they all got the same form.

Maybe its just my ATS-fueld paranoid gene kicking in, but I see a BIG problem with this.

Consider how the standardized test scores are counted. At the end of the year, every student takes a standardized test to measure their growth and learning. The schools then receive a report broken down by gender, race, and socio-economic status. The purpose for this is to allow us to target populations considered at risk.

Previously, hispanic was one of the populations, along with African-American, Pacific Islander, White, Native American, Bi-racial, and Asian. But now they are removing the hispanic label.

Schools receive funding in part based on the racial mix-up of the schools; hgher minorities mean more money. Which makes me wonder if the government is trying to "get rid of" a minority to avoid shelling out more $$$.

Or, maybe I really have spent too much time on ATS......

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

Legally, (or socially, I'm not sure which applies -- both I guess) hispanics are considered white.

This changed on all the forms I use years ago. If they are hispanic, you check "white", same as you would for middle easterners.

Even law enforcement forms reflect the same choices, which puzzles me as to how we are to keep viable statistics on what is happening in specific venues. Nonetheless, there it is.

This is what I was going to point out. Their status has been changed to 'white'. It's a 'progressive' move to remove borders.

Yes, I do see it as a slight and a cause for hurt feelings. That's why I thought my answer might 'one-up' them. You could always refuse it by saying your ethnic group must not be required because you are not on the list....but then that might reflect badly on your child.

reply to post by Alethea


The schools have been told that if a parent does not turn in a form, the TEACHERS must make the designation.

So a parent can write in his/her race.....but the school will just change it around.

I think this goes deeper than just hurt feelings.

You might wanna change the thread title to something a little more.. subtile. It sounds a bit offensive.

The only real question is why you think it matters. Also, why do schools with more minorities receive more funding than those without? Are minorities higher maintenance that whites? Does it cost more to educate a black student than a white student? To teachers teaching minorities get paid more? What's the deal. I think the person that said write in HUMAN hit the nail on the head. If everyone thought like that racism would be a thing of the past.

I'm not sure what these 'school forms' are but the only counted forms are the 2010 short and long forms. They are enumerated at the Census offices after being mailed in from individual households. In rare cases they are counted in door-to-door operations. But they are never counted via a third party (i.e., schools). I ran the 1990 Census for a large part of the Northeast. The whole data collection process is strictly controlled.

And no, no one changed the hispanic designation. It has been counted the same way (as shown on the 2010 short-form I posted earlier) since the 1970 census. That's the last 5 census operations.

"Hispanic" is not a race. It is a nationality. There are really only 4 generally accepted "races" of human.

reply to post by jdub297


First of all, I brought this to the attention of ATS for answers. I had looked at the census information that another poster added, and this is different.

This is from the SCHOOL system. It is not the census form the government is sending to everyone. Sorry if I didn't make that clearer in the post.

Now, as a school employee, I realize that a lot of school funding comes directly from the performance of students on standardized tests. It also comes from schools with a large minority population.

Up until this year, hispanics were considered a minority in the school system. Perhaps not in the other areas, such as law enforcement or anthropological data, but in the school system hispanic was a designation. So I do know what I'm talking about, drop the deny ignorance and "poorly researched" comments.

Why the sudden change? Perhaps, as one poster stated, its simply to mirror what other forms used in society that designate hispanic and middle eastern white. If so, then great.

But what if its soemthing else? A way to deny money to schools with a large percentage of hispanics, simpley because they will no be considered white? Speaking as a teacher in one of these schools, these children require a lot more in terms of teaching time and supplies....after all, they are having to learn a second language (for the most part). That takes more money.

Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, perhaps not. But the sarcastic comments about poor research are not appreciated, nor helpful.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I'm of mostly Hispanic heritage and this shocks me. They should of included Hispanic and what race, Like White, Native American, even if your Black and Hispanic.

reply to post by SuperSlovak


I wrote it that way to get people's attention. I recognize it is offensive, but to be honest, a lot of people I'm working with find this whole thing offensive.

The only real question is why you think it matters. Also, why do schools with more minorities receive more funding than those without? Are minorities higher maintenance that whites? Does it cost more to educate a black student than a white student? To teachers teaching minorities get paid more? What's the deal. I think the person that said write in HUMAN hit the nail on the head. If everyone thought like that racism would be a thing of the past.

It matters because the government designates funding to schools based on student population. No, I as a teacher don't get paid more.

And teaching students who come from low-socio-economic backgrounds is more difficult. Why? Because they simply don't have the life experiences to make connections to learning. That's how learning occurrs....you make a connection with something you've previoulsy seen or experienced. The government recognizes this, which is why they have the headstart programs for 3 and 4 year old students.