Hispanic Origin

[Anonymous]

How many ancestors from a Hispanic country does one need to have to qualify for Hispanic, and how far back can one go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid isn’t Hispanic enough to have realized it before now, he’s not Hispanic.

And if your school registration paperwork says he’s white, and you try to change it now- huge red flag.

Serious question, but is there any official guidelines as to how Hispanic you have to be to claim Hispanic? My kids have a Hispanic great-grandparent could they technically claim Hispanic if they wanted to?

The liberal handbook says there are 6 mongoloid features. Darker skin, black hair , kinky or tightly curled hair, thick lips, wide nose and flat face.

Any three of these features qualify one.

[Anonymous]

I know that everyone is discussing whether it is valid for students to claim Hispanic on thier applications as way to be considered an URM and receive and edge in admission.

My question is whether the point of identifying Hispanic heritage is in part because it is fed into diversity considerations/statistics that have nothing to do with economic/opportunity diversity. If the student in fact has the heritage and that is a reflection of diversity why shouldn’t the student include it? Saying you are Hispanic is not the same as saying you grew up with limited resources.

I say this as a parent of children with absolutely no URM racial history. I think racial and cultural diversity is important to an educational community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid isn’t Hispanic enough to have realized it before now, he’s not Hispanic.

And if your school registration paperwork says he’s white, and you try to change it now- huge red flag.

Serious question, but is there any official guidelines as to how Hispanic you have to be to claim Hispanic? My kids have a Hispanic great-grandparent could they technically claim Hispanic if they wanted to?

Child must be 1/4 Hispanic according to College Board. So a great grandparent would be 1/8, which is not enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

I empathize with your situation and feel sorry for the pain and suffering of your MIL.

But... I'm sure her daughter (your wife) got the necessary breaks in life to "make" it. I think it needs to stop there.

I also don't get why something that happened in another country matters to us here? If there is a box to check for your situation, what about all the Poles and Romanians that were occupied by Fascist Germany and suffered? Do we give them "discounts" too? I don't think so... What about the Jews? We probably took care of them in the early years after the Holocaust (I don't know). They are now actually discriminated against in college admissions.

If the made-up law/rules allow you to check a box and claim benefits, go for it, but remember that Europeans were the oppressors in the American story. It's their rape and pillage that even created the Hispanic "race".

Quoting a pp from 03/07/2018 23:50, "It is meant for oppressed Hispanic, not the oppressors of the oppressed Hispanic."

OP here. I don't think it should matter whether or not your ancestors suffered or not. The question on the application asks if there is Hispanic ethnicity. It does not ask if you are rich or poor, or if you had SAT prep or not, or if Spanish is spoken in the household. It is a yes or no question about ethnicity, period. Is this right? Not necessarily. But I'll be damned if I am going to let DS walk away from an opportunity that is legitimate under the current system. He is 25% Hispanic and will identify as such.

We live in a wealthy neighborhood and have a few neighbors with Hispanic ethnicity. The live in huge fancy houses and drive expensive luxury cars. Their kids go to private schools. They are just as likely to be checking this box as well. Why should they have the advantage and not DS? Do you see what is happening?

Until something is done about the racist questions on these applications, these situations will continue.

I imagine that, at highly competitive schools, there is a hierarchy of Hispanic preferences. One would hope that wealthy white Spanish origins would be at the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, what? Where is Catalan located? Are Catalonians separatists in the same way the Basque are separatists? They even have their own language? I know the Basque have a language that is considered so unusual that it is not classified under the Indo-European structure. The linguists are not quite sure where their language came from, if I remember correctly? What is Catalan's story?

Do you live in a cave?

[Anonymous]

Our family is from Germany and Russia, but we identify as Hispanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

Catalan is not Hispanic.

How is Catalan not Hispanic? Hispanic means having origins in the Iberian peninsula. That peninsula, referred to as "Hispania" by the Romans, includes Catalonia.

Hispanic means Spanish speaking. Catalans are not Hispanic in the same way that Brazilians are not Hispanic.

All Catalans speak Spanish as well as Catalan. They are bilingual from birth.

Wow! I was born illiterate and couldn't even speak one language until I was 2 or so. I am clearly disadvantaged compared to these wonders of humanity who can speak two (two!!) languages upon emerging from the birth canal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that everyone is discussing whether it is valid for students to claim Hispanic on thier applications as way to be considered an URM and receive and edge in admission.

My question is whether the point of identifying Hispanic heritage is in part because it is fed into diversity considerations/statistics that have nothing to do with economic/opportunity diversity. If the student in fact has the heritage and that is a reflection of diversity why shouldn’t the student include it? Saying you are Hispanic is not the same as saying you grew up with limited resources.

I say this as a parent of children with absolutely no URM racial history. I think racial and cultural diversity is important to an educational community.

I think you just need to be honest in your applications. The college board and colleges use a pretty clear definition which is actually laid out: at least one grandparent from Spain or Latin America. It is a factual thing. Check the box if those facts are true, don't if they're not, and just be honest about it. Don't worry about whether you meet DCUM's definition of Hispanic (which, as you can see, is essentially each individual DCUM reader's personal opinion). The admissions boards are not as dumb as some of DCUM's readers apparently think they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

Catalan is not Hispanic.

How is Catalan not Hispanic? Hispanic means having origins in the Iberian peninsula. That peninsula, referred to as "Hispania" by the Romans, includes Catalonia.

Hispanic means Spanish speaking. Catalans are not Hispanic in the same way that Brazilians are not Hispanic.

All Catalans speak Spanish as well as Catalan. They are bilingual from birth.

Wow! I was born illiterate and couldn't even speak one language until I was 2 or so. I am clearly disadvantaged compared to these wonders of humanity who can speak two (two!!) languages upon emerging from the birth canal.

Apparently you are still illiterate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, what? Where is Catalan located? Are Catalonians separatists in the same way the Basque are separatists? They even have their own language? I know the Basque have a language that is considered so unusual that it is not classified under the Indo-European structure. The linguists are not quite sure where their language came from, if I remember correctly? What is Catalan's story?

Do you live in a cave?

As a matter of fact, I do! You got something against caves?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

I empathize with your situation and feel sorry for the pain and suffering of your MIL.

But... I'm sure her daughter (your wife) got the necessary breaks in life to "make" it. I think it needs to stop there.

I also don't get why something that happened in another country matters to us here? If there is a box to check for your situation, what about all the Poles and Romanians that were occupied by Fascist Germany and suffered? Do we give them "discounts" too? I don't think so... What about the Jews? We probably took care of them in the early years after the Holocaust (I don't know). They are now actually discriminated against in college admissions.

If the made-up law/rules allow you to check a box and claim benefits, go for it, but remember that Europeans were the oppressors in the American story. It's their rape and pillage that even created the Hispanic "race".

Quoting a pp from 03/07/2018 23:50, "It is meant for oppressed Hispanic, not the oppressors of the oppressed Hispanic."

OP here. I don't think it should matter whether or not your ancestors suffered or not. The question on the application asks if there is Hispanic ethnicity. It does not ask if you are rich or poor, or if you had SAT prep or not, or if Spanish is spoken in the household. It is a yes or no question about ethnicity, period. Is this right? Not necessarily. But I'll be damned if I am going to let DS walk away from an opportunity that is legitimate under the current system. He is 25% Hispanic and will identify as such.

We live in a wealthy neighborhood and have a few neighbors with Hispanic ethnicity. The live in huge fancy houses and drive expensive luxury cars. Their kids go to private schools. They are just as likely to be checking this box as well. Why should they have the advantage and not DS? Do you see what is happening?

Until something is done about the racist questions on these applications, these situations will continue.

I imagine that, at highly competitive schools, there is a hierarchy of Hispanic preferences. One would hope that wealthy white Spanish origins would be at the bottom.

Same as the black kid of two wealthy lawyers, one would presume.

Especially one whose ancestors had nothing to do with slavery -- like President Obama's, or so many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

Catalan is not Hispanic.

How is Catalan not Hispanic? Hispanic means having origins in the Iberian peninsula. That peninsula, referred to as "Hispania" by the Romans, includes Catalonia.

Hispanic means Spanish speaking. Catalans are not Hispanic in the same way that Brazilians are not Hispanic.

All Catalans speak Spanish as well as Catalan. They are bilingual from birth.

Wow! I was born illiterate and couldn't even speak one language until I was 2 or so. I am clearly disadvantaged compared to these wonders of humanity who can speak two (two!!) languages upon emerging from the birth canal.

Dear provincial Anerican,

You should travel a bit more.

[Anonymous]

Are Portuguese and/or Brazilians considered Hispanic? Cubans are too, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's another one for DCUM along the same lines:

I married into a Catalan family. My wife grew up in California as an American but my MIL grew up in Spain until her parents fled with her and she came to the US as a refugee. MIL's parents were part of the anti-Fascist resistance until they fled Spain. They arrived in the US in poverty, but now the family is doing okay financially. The family history is violent (relatives killed by the Fascists among other awful things) and you can still see the impact on the family. (My MIL will not speak of that time; we know she saw people killed in front of her when she was young.)

My DD does not speak Catalan very well at all but is immersed in Catalan culture from the extended family and identifies as Catalan in addition to American (but not as Spanish although she has Spanish citizenship). DD is white (blonde hair, blue eyes).

Two years ago DD felt strongly about putting Hispanic down on the HS enrollment form because she feels her Catalan heritage is a strong part of her identity (which it is) and she qualifies as per the 1/4 definition. She plans on talking about her relationship with her grandmother in her college essays.

What do you think, DCUM?

Catalan is not Hispanic.

How is Catalan not Hispanic? Hispanic means having origins in the Iberian peninsula. That peninsula, referred to as "Hispania" by the Romans, includes Catalonia.

Hispanic means Spanish speaking. Catalans are not Hispanic in the same way that Brazilians are not Hispanic.

All Catalans speak Spanish as well as Catalan. They are bilingual from birth.

Wow! I was born illiterate and couldn't even speak one language until I was 2 or so. I am clearly disadvantaged compared to these wonders of humanity who can speak two (two!!) languages upon emerging from the birth canal.