What percentage of heritage determines a persons declared race?

A lot of it goes with physical appearance, but there are old laws that we’ve since become horribly embarrassed about that actually governed it.

When it comes to issues of race, people tend to focus more on phenotype than genotype.
Though, really, it should just be whichever one they personally relate to the most.
Another obvious issue is, why must they choose one?

I agree with Nimis, it’s up to the individual. Being biracial myself, I don’t consider myself Mexican or white, I’m just me. However, on documents that ask for my race I pick “white with Hispanic origin”. I cannot and will not deny my heritage, but culturally I fit in more with the whities, even though I grew up with primarily Latino people in a primarily Latino neighborhood. It’s tricky navigating through the issues of self-identity. Someone who is one race/heritage can never understand what it’s like to fit into 2 cultures while simulataneously fitting into neither.

@EP Are you referring to the one drop rule?

glad to see you made it back. I kept telling everyone in the chatroom I saw you on TV.

@tiny I have never seen that as a choice….even on census forms. Mostly it is white, black, hispanic, asian or other…..

Maybe because I live in L.A./CA. It’s been on pretty much every form I have ever filled out.

@tinyfaery: I disagree, I’m part Spanish, but mostly “white”. My extended family is almost entirely full-blooded Ecuadorian. I always fell into a weird category of white girl. Just because I’m ‘one’ thing doesn’t mean I didn’t see the same issues that someone who was more obviously ethnic dealt with.

I don’t know what the official rules are on this (except of course that historical one-drop rule…) but as a person of mixed race myself—50% chinese, 50% eastern european—I take the following steps when presented with a question of race.

If avoidable, I don’t specify any race at all—most of the time I don’t think it’s important or relevant. If multiple races are permitted, I’ll put Caucasian and Asian. If only a single race is permitted I will put Mixed or Other. If neither of those are an option I’ll put Caucasian—simply because I associate myself more strongly with Caucasians than Asians.

I don’t think there are any “oficial rules” because race as we know it is really a social construct. As far as forms, it’s up to the individual, however they want to be identified.

Sure asmonet. I bet you know exactly what it’s like to experience bigotry due to race. You and a black man who gets pulled over for DWB have all the same experiences.

That was incredibly offensive and rude. And actually, one could make the argument that you just made me the target of bigotry – your own.

You’d know. (trying to make small type, but I’m on my phone.)

@Snoopy: I think so. In the article it talks about the great grandparent level which is what we were taught.

You could have, we were very close to the CNN cam in the crowd. We waved and everything. One of those arms flailing in the crowd? Totally mine. :)

Honestly, being a Puerto-Rican, I despise being called black by dumb Americans.

What tinyfaery said about trying to fit into two cultures and being accepted or claimed by either is frustrating and very true.

Empress, I’m confused. The only article I see is Lapilofu’s, and I don’t see anything in it about great grandparents.

Maybe I’m stupid, but what are you talking about?

From Lapilofu’s article: Before 1930, individuals of mixed European and African ancestry were usually classed as mulattoes, sometimes as black and sometimes as white, depending on appearance. States often stopped worrying about ancestry at “the fourth degree” (3 x great-grandparents).

Ahh, thank you! (i just re-read my comment, and i think it sounded kind of flippant, which i wasn’t trying to. thanks for answer my Q. lurve.)

so according to the wikipedia article,
my parents are the 1st degree, my grandparents the 2nd, and my great grandparents the 3rd?

and if one of them is black, that makes me what? mulatto?

hmm. okay.

so what changed in 1930?

An flutherites worked census projects? what are the choices on Federal census forms?

(I think daloon knows quite a bit more about the census. maybe he’ll share.)

I think 1930 is being used as a symbolic year of ending the era of Reconstruction and moving into The Great Depression. During which we had More Important Things to think about.

There are two separate questions on the Census forms. The Census Bureau considers race to be separate from ethnicity. So, the first question (ethnicity) is “Are you Hispanic or Latino?”, yes or no. The second question is “What is your race?” and the options are White, Black, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, and Two or More Races. (2000 was the first year to offer the “two or more races” option, BTW). This means that “Hispanic” is not a race. See the official Census forms here.

So, given all that, a person can be identified by both a race and an ethnicity. Therefore, you can be Hispanic and White, Hispanic and Black, Hispanic and Asian (which is possible given that the Philippines were once a Spanish colony, so Filipinos could be considered Asian and Hispanic), or non-Hispanic and White, non-Hispanic and Black, etc. I use the analogy of being deaf when explaining this: imagine if the question on the Census was not “Are you Hispanic or Latino?” but “Are you deaf?” You could then be classified as deaf and White, deaf and Black, etc., or non-deaf and White, non-deaf and Black, etc. In actuality, I think the majority of Hispanics in our area (Dallas) don’t consider themselves any of the stated races, because we have a high percentage in the Some Other Race category around here.

This is all Census Bureau rhetoric though. I think in the end you are what you are and classification is not important.

Ethnicity relates to a religious, racial, national, and/or cultural association [according to Webster’s dictionary]. It is unfortunate in this world we live that we are given to “tagging” people, we brand everything and anything. Lets not forget that we are citizens of EARTH [as we call this planet of ours]. As such ALL races (white, black and all other) fall under that category regardless of color, beliefs, political or economic affiliation. But, until mankind sees mankind as one species and respects Nature as a whole, as an invaluable treasure to protect (animals, plants, environment), the inhabitants of this planet will continue on the downward spiral of destruction. [Quasar13]

Self appellation of ‘race’ is exactly that. Neither heritage nor genetics are a factor.

My children are by majority “White/Caucasian” They have 1/16 Native American heritage. Should I check that as well on the Census or only that or not at all?