Md 2020 Census Numbers

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by emmmcubed

??? Citation for this?

Clearly, everyone who checked the "Hispanic" Census box (i.e. everyone who contributed to the statistics on which the minority-majority conclusion is based) chose not to check the "White" box.

That's the problem with the narrative that many have been pushing on what it means to be "Hispanic." Understanding that Hispanic is not a race but an ethnicity that any races (or combination of races) can belong to, it seems silly to tally all Hispanics (and you'll note that the article that is the basis of this thread, per usual, does not separate Hispanic by race) as counting toward a racially minority result. Indeed, there are white Hispanics like Jennifer Lopez, AOC, and Shakira; black Hispanics like Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, and David Ortiz; and mixed race Hispanics like George Zimmerman and others; among other examples.

But take a look at the US Census data for Maryland: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/MD

As you'll see, non-Hispanic whites comprised exactly 50% of Maryland's population in 2019, but whites alone (to include white Hispanics) bumped the white population up to 58.5% of the population. Absent people changing how they identify--which would then beg the question why in such a short period of time--the population demographics could not have changed that much within a year to make up for what we are being told today.

Now, where things get complicated is that many Hispanics on previous censuses didn't put down race, but instead geographic origin location, such as "Puerto Rico" and "Dominican Republic." But that has apparently changed with the 2020 Census, with way more Hispanics putting multi racial, but still a sizable minority putting white alone and an even more substantial minority putting "white in combination." If someone marks themselves down as "white in combination," I'd call them white but that's me.

In any case, we see from years past how Hispanics have self identified. In 2019, this shows that 65.5% of Hispanics identified as white. Granted, I haven't done the math myself to check if this was accurate based on the data, but the page for the data is sourced (#1) to the page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_...tino_Americans

This has been discussed in numerous other settings as well, to include here: https://prospect.org/civil-rights/la...ght-whiteness/ and a host of other articles that are available via Google search.

[emmmcubed]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

That's the problem with the narrative that many have been pushing on what it means to be "Hispanic." Understanding that Hispanic is not a race but an ethnicity that any races (or combination of races) can belong to . . .

As you'll see, non-Hispanic whites comprised exactly 50% of Maryland's population in 2019, but whites alone (to include white Hispanics) bumped the white population up to 58.5% of the population . . .

If someone marks themselves down as "white in combination," I'd call them white but that's me.

In any case, we see from years past how Hispanics have self identified. In 2019, this shows that 65.5% of Hispanics identified as white . . .

I am aware of (and agree with) the criticism of using "Hispanic" as a stand-in for race, and it has been my experience as well that my Latino/Hispanic friends tend to be more specific if they're referring to themselves: Puerto Rican, Dominican, Guatemalan, etc.

How do you know that the "whites alone" category "included white Hispanics"? Or is that just another assumption/choice, like choosing to call someone "white" who described themselves as "white in combination"?

I didn't visit the Wikipedia links you included, but I wonder if the reference there to the "65.5% of Hispanics identified as white" has sufficient context -- that context being (and the rest of my remarks relate to this) -- what are the available choices?

For example, if my Central American friends are filling out a form and have the choice of only "white" or "black" or "multi-racial," some number of them may well choose "white." But if you add "Hispanic" to that list, even acknowledging that it is not very accurate as a racial category, few of those same friends would choose "white" instead of "Hispanic."

Of course, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data" . . .

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by emmmcubed

For example, if my Central American friends are filling out a form and have the choice of only "white" or "black" or "multi-racial," some number of them may well choose "white." But if you add "Hispanic" to that list, even acknowledging that it is not very accurate as a racial category, few of those same friends would choose "white" instead of "Hispanic."

That's not how the census works.
Question 8 on the census was "is the person Hispanic?", with multiple choices.
Question 9 was "what is the person race?", with multiple choices.

You never had to choose among white, black or Hispanic.

[The Very Man Himself]

The 2020 Census made a clear distinction that Hispanic was not being treated as a race.
See Qs 8 + 9, both of which had to be answered.

https://www2.census.gov/programs-sur...lish_DI-Q1.pdf

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by The Very Man Himself

The 2020 Census made a clear distinction that Hispanic was not being treated as a race.
See Qs 8 + 9, both of which had to be answered.

https://www2.census.gov/programs-sur...lish_DI-Q1.pdf

On the Census, I cannot recall when Hispanic was ever treated as a race; could have been in the past, but I recall 2010 being clear at least that Hispanic was not a race. The problem isn't with the Census itself, but with how others then report Census data, to include the media.

[The Very Man Himself]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

On the Census, I cannot recall when Hispanic was ever treated as a race; could have been in the past, but I recall 2010 being clear at least that Hispanic was not a race. The problem isn't with the Census itself, but with how others then report Census data, to include the media.

I'm still not clear on what point you're trying to make. It's easy to see where confusion can arise. E.G. someone might identify as white "in public" for fear of otherwise generating anti-immigrant sentiment, but "in private" with friends and family identify as Hispanic thereby mixing race and ethnicity. The census acknowledges that these numbers are estimates and until someone comes up with a better.........