Maybe someone out there has an answer to this question.
The other day I was filling out paper work for Lil Bambino to start "classes" through Early Head Start. One of the forms that I had to fill out had questions concerning Race and Ethnicity.
On the check list of race, it listed Caucasian, African American, Asian, Pacific Islander...but on the Ethnicity is only asked Hispanic/Latino or Non Hispanic Latino.
Now what does that mean? I am totally stumped on these classifications. Why do they break down race into these categories but separate Ethnicity only into Hispanic/Latino or Non-Hispanic/Latino?
Why isn't Hispanic/Latino listed as race too?
That question stumped the teacher as well. She wanted to say that it was a cultural thing. Well, we all know that each race...or even group of people living in a defined area has their own "culture".
Would that not be the African American people, or Pacific Islander people, or Asian people?
Wikipedia states:
An ethnic group (or ethnicity) is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture (often including a shared religion) and an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy.[1][2][3] Another definition is "...a highly biologically self-perpetuating group sharing an interest in a homeland connected with a specific geographical area, a common language and traditions, including food preferences, and a common religious faith".[4]
Reading the information on Race and Ethnicity on Wikipedia is even more confusing! Maybe I am just not getting it.
Wikipedia:
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the instruction to "mark one or more races" after noting evidence of increasing numbers of interracial children and wanting to capture the diversity in a measurable way, and after having received requests by people who wanted to be able to acknowledge their or their children's full ancestry rather than identifying with only one group. Prior to this decision, the Census and other government data collections asked people to report only one race.[3]
But wouldn't that hold true for African Americans and Asians...and every other "race"?
Does this confuse anyone else?
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