Racial Identity Question

I am half caucasion and half Korean and I always choose "other". Growing up, my parents always asked how I wanted to be listed and honestly, I never believed I should have to choose. I am not one or the other, I am both and I am proud of being both.

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I put "other" and when they specify I put both races.

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I know this is a belated response but had to put in my two cents. The school asks for race/ethnicity because they need it for state and federal reports. It affects their funding and also their TAKS ratings. (To receive a desirable rating, the school must show equally good scores for all races and subpopulations.) So if there is not an opportunity to choose "other," then you may find it beneficial to select "Hispanic." Good for you for supporting both cultures and languages!

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My kids dad is from mexico and I am white. I have always checked both boxes. They are both, equally.... as much as you can say since I'm really what you call hienz 57! My kids currently live in mexico and they love it! Now they will have the benifits of being american, and mexican, and will qualify for things in both countries. I agree with almost every post, that this country has become quite predjudice with white people, unfortunately sometimes you only get benefits if you are not white...... good luck!

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I recently met a sweet young lady who is biracial and told me that she checks both boxes. I love it! There will clearly be times when one will be more advantageous; maybe you make those decisions as you move on in life based on the situation individually. Right now, why not communicate from the start that your daughter won't be boxed in? ("Nobody puts Baby in a corner!") Lol! Make them be the ones to narrow it down. Don't let them make you choose.

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Why not choose both?

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I always check Hispanic for my daughter, because I am thinking about statistics. I am Hispanic, my husband is Caucasian (Scotch-Irish-German descent). He married me 25 years ago thinking that I was gonna cook him Mexican food everyday--didn't happen! lol
Linda C

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In my oppinion it really doesn't matter what your answer on the paper as long as you continue to explain to her the differences in both cultures and how important it is to be proud of her background. Our situation is backwards, I'm hispanic and his white and our children speak both languages, love both cuisines and know where both mommy and daddy come from. We mark both and put on the bottom mix. If the school staff asks we tell them is neither one or the other, is both. It has never being a problem for us. Hope she has a great beginning. God bless.

K.

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My husband is half white and half hispanic and his mom choose white thus I classified mine as white. If we would do it over I would have choose hispanic. There are more scholarship etc and things of that nature availabe for Hispanics. I also teach mine to love both heritages.

Probably a little late. I'm a former teacher. We always went by the race of the father.

We are having the exact same issue and I have no idea what to tell you. I am sorry. I look forward to read what other people say and maybe it will help me too. Thanks for asking the question!

Actually there really is no benefit to either. The school forms usually state "White, other than Hispanic". In that case you would have to mark hispanic. I encountered the same question with my daughter.

Hey M.,

My kids are caucasian and hispanic as well and I tick them both anytime I fill out their paperwork. I don't feel that there is any reason to try and choose what my kids are. They are what they are and that is half hispanic and half caucasian.

Race is a notoriously nebulous concept. Before a physical property can be scientifically examined, it must be objectively defined so that accurate measurements of variables can be made. Defining race has been based on subjective taxonomic classification, morphological interpretation, and physiognomic characteristics, exercises that are frighteningly akin to phrenology. Race has yet to be defined in objective genetic terms that are quantifiably measurable, rendering attempts at truly scientific discussion hopelessly futile. That being said, does the question need to be answered by checking a box ? If so, there is almost always a box labeled "other", or "multi-racial", or something of that nature. If not, I would make my own box and label it myself !

My daughter is half Spanish. She goes by hispanic. When she got in college, it did make a difference in benefits.

We will never to equal until the government stops asking the race questions. It should not matter what you are it the person you have become (a good citizen and kind). But I would use white because there is so much negative for the hispic right now with the illegals, it could hurt her later on jobs. But if the hispic can help her with scholarships later use hispnic. Good luck, again I hate it they ask those question about what race you are.

I spent many years in the market research insustry and this question came up often. We always used the race of the father.

My husband & I have the same issue. I am Hispanic and he is White. We will use Hispanic as our daughters race. The hospital put Hispanic on her birth certificate, since I was Hispanic.

well.. we went through this also, as did I myself in school. My father was native american and way proud. my mom was white?german descent. now so i am half indian and half white lol math may get confusing. My dad always told me I was Indiacasian as a joke. my husband is full blooded danish.. so we taught our kids to say they were cauindish LOL.. but on forms I alwyas check other and write in what the true matter is. As my father said we are ALL mixed race. caucasian can be any anglo race (german, french, danish, sweedish) you get the picture... unless you can verify that your entire family started in the same tribe or sect in the caveman days lol! dont sweat it, you can either check both, or other. Its just for census anyway.

We're rebels. When both of our girls entered Kindergarten, we checked both African American and Caucasion on the school registration paperwork. When the school called to make us "pick" we explained that we didn't want or expect our girls to choose. (It was particularly fun the second time around - especially since the school knew that we did the same thing 4 years earlier...)

Anyway, we ended up picking African American so that the girls would have minority status. This could be needed when applying for scholarships, etc.

My oldest daughter is now entering High School. What didn't matter to her friends that she's known since Kindergarten now seems to be a source of many questions to her new classmates. She is light skinned (my husband is Italian American with a pretty "ethnic" surname) and now she's being asked "what are you"? They're not sure how to classify her, but luckily she's got a strong sense of self (we are close to both sides of the family) and she's proud to let people know that she's 1/2 African American and 1/2 Italian American (with a little bit o' Irish thrown in the mix.)

My younger daughter (darker complexion) is still in elementary school, and she's just accepted for who she is with the parents/family that she has.

On a side note: don't the forms state "white - hispanic" and "white - non-hispanic"?

I see that I am way late for this and it may have been brought up in one of the 71 responses I didn't read all of. The fact is, you should teach your child whatever culture(s) fromyour mixed family you feel you wish too. The part of the request I want to respond to is if there are any benefits...At her current age probably not, as she gets older (college age) it may help her edge out someone else with the same grades for college entrance or scholarship applications...however...the reason the school is asking is because they are paid based on certain criteria, and receive certain extra funding based on number of "minorities" (god, i hate that word) within their school. They also receive extra funding for number of poverty level or below children and (in some areas) for children of agriculture workers/owners. I hoped this helped in some way...

Hi M.,
I haven't read all the responses you received so I hope I'm not repeating one you already got. I always write "Human" in the race blank. ;-)
What difference does it make to them?
Best wishes,
D.

Same here, except add black in the mix too. Hispanics are of the white race but of hispanic ethnicity. Birth Certificates will say white. But, for other purposes, they want to know if they are hispanic, of course. The ethnicity usually follows the father and/or the minority culture. My kids are both white and hispanic with a hispanic father. I check hispanic. There are advantages of checking white and there are advantages of checking hispanic. None of that matters at this age. But, if someone else had to check the box for you, they would check hispanic mainly because the father is hispanic as is their last name.

And by the way, my soapbox...I hate being called Anglo or Caucasian. I'm American (of a multi-mixed European ancestry) and proud of it. (Anglo is from England area and Caucasian is from Russia. I'm mostly German.) My nationality is American. I have no true ties to any one culture! If police need physical descriptions then we could just start using light, med, dark, tones,etc. America has been so mixed up for a looooong time now, even when it was mostly white. Germans didn't want their children marrying French, etc. Well, now we white Americans are all mixed up and are just called White! It's happening AGAIN but with other cultures. So, what will be the new term for my children and grandchildren who are no longer white and no longer hispanic, etc. American? Multis? Others? Lights? Mediums? Darks? I think it's funny how history is repeating itself and yet everyone thinks it's all new. This is just a part of life when cultures collide. I think it is great and also sad. I know the loss of a culture isn't all that wonderful, but it is part of life. The only true cultures that I can say I'm completely tied to is American and of course, Texan.

I had this problem while growing up.. my mother white, my father hispanic.

My mother used to check both boxes.

Problem with most forms and ethnicity is it usually has an option like "hispanic, not white" and "white". One day I asked what to do about this and I was told to put "other". My friends started teasing me (just in jest) by calling me an "other".

In the end I just started marking hispanic as my last name was hispanic and in theory there were more opportunities open to me as a "minority" (that will soon change those as hispanic is quickly becoming a majority).

There's a difference between race and ethnicity. Based on your description, her race is white; her ethnicity is Hispanic. As someone else mentioned, she would be considered white, Hispanic. I'm white, non-Hispanic and my husband is white, Hispanic, so our daughter is white, Hispanic, because she is partially of Hispanic origin. Those are the official Census descriptions. However, most school districts have kept race and ethnicity combined in forms -- they haven't caught up with the Census changes from 2000. Hope that helps!

Ooooh boy....

I checked the hispanic box, and now there are days I wish I hadn't.

Yes, it probably helps the schools, but let me tell you the short version of our story:

We go to a school where there are probably only ten hispanic kids in his grade level. When it came time for the TAKS tests, they paid particular attention to these kids to make sure they would pass. An inordinate amount of attention, I would say. This is because the school's ranking is partially based on the performance of minority groups and if there are only a few minority kids in each grade, each one has to do well or it skews the ranking. So there was not only pressure on him to pass (which of course he did), but excel.

As for scholarships and stuff down the line, I'm undecided on that. A lot of those scholarships are drying up, but private scholarships are taking their place.

Anyway, it doesn't hurt or help I think to "check the box". Just be aware of some of the unintended consequences.

Good Luck!

Are any of us truly "white"? No. I would put whatever classification your daughter chooses. By the time she needs a scholarship, "white" people will be the minority. Just a thought...

The only reason they ask right now for her age is for statistic reasons. It has no bearing on her education at this point.
When she does get older though, and applies for say a government job, if you she answers hispanic, she will most likely get the job over another equally qualified person who answered white. (It's the whole affirmative action thing).

I worked for the government for 15 years. Got married and divorced and changed my name back from a hispanic last name to my white last name (for lack of a better phase) and have had a terrible time getting any government job again. It's all just personal opinion of course, many will say affirative action has nothing to do with jobs, but it does.

Either check both boxes or like the other lady said write "human."

I personally would never check one box over the other because of what the financial advantages would be. That is just the beginning of teaching them handout/welfare mentality. Not that you go over their papers with them while filling them out, it is just the mindset foundation that is important!!!

I don't know about these days and this area but because my mom is Mexican, and my dad American, I was always labeled Hispanic and when I entered College back East I was excepted at a better University because I was Hispanic and they needed to fill their "quota of minority" (with scholarship for minority). I got an awesome experience and education because I am Hispanic that I wouldn't have gotten if I was white.

Hi, M.!
Our boys are adopted and are biracial white/black. We were told that legally, even if they only have one drop of black blood in them they are considered black. Now, I don't know what that means for you but I have found that in some cases it helps to be the minority race. My son tested to get into a magnet school and scored a little lower than what they wanted the white children to score (96th percentile) but much higher than what black children are expected to score (80th percentile) he scored in the 93rd percentile. Because the school was magnet they had to have a certain pecentage of minorities and he was one of the higher scoring minorities he got in. I am never proud of having to use race to do something but truly feel we were blessed to have him start out in such a wonderful school. When your child starts college there may be scholarships available because of her race that may not be otherwise. I know that is a long way off but might be something to consider.

Hello,

I was born here but because I have to check something on paper I put hispanic because my parents are Mexican. Sometimes I would cross hispanic off and write in Mexican since that was who I was.But of coarse I would have to say I was an American citizen because I was born here. My husband is an anglo from Maine and we have raised my 6 year old girl to be super proud of both cultures and because of that she also embrasses all cultures and wants to know about the world. On paper my daughter might have to fill in American but maybe not white - american.I've seen it written that way before so I would have to put brown or ignore it all together. In the end your child will define who he or she is as a person half american/hispanic. I make sure she knows how rich he mexican back ground is and her Father takes care of informing her about his culture.She does tell people she is half and half. Ha!

As her father is Hispanic, that is the "box" you check off.

I have a friend with same situation as you. She has her daughter listed under Hispanic, for many reason she said mostly will help her in years down the road. Hope this helps.

You can always decline to answer, I always put "other" and write in "American"...

We are in a reverse situation. I am Hispanic and my husband is White. Our daughter embraces both cultures as we teach her about where she comes from. For school purposes however, I recently learned that she will not qualify for scholarships for Hispanic children because she does not have a Hispanic surname. We have always listed her as White on paper, but perhaps, your daughter can benefit in the future if you choose to list her race as Hispanic. Just my 2 cents.

Down the line your daughter will qualify for more scholarships if you make sure that the Hispanic designation is checked on school forms. I think that the general "rule" is that if either parent is of a race other than Caucasian that is what the schools prefer indicated.

There are benefits for college applications if she is listed as Hispanic. If your husband knows Spanish he should teach her, what a wonderful help that will be in school and later on in life.

YES!! CHOOSE HISPANIC! She can get scholarships and college aid if you do this. As a white girl, she wont.....

My family is the same way. I am white and my husband is hispanic. I have always put Hispanic on the forms for school because I figured when they are older, maybe it could help them with minority scholarships, etc. I do not know if it is true or not, but I thought it might be worth a try.

Well, my hubby's white and I am hispanic and whenever questioned (on forms and applications), I put white hispanic. I did that recently and when I got the paper back to proofread, it was just labelled hispanic. I think also because underneath was another box you could mark that was labelled white (not of Hispanic origin). So, there you go. I don't know if there are any benefits (as far as school goes), but there may be some if your child is considered a minority.

Check both boxes if there is not an "other" category. Maybe if they get enough answers like that they will give more options next year.

Hispanic is not a Race, it's an ethnicity. There is a lot of confusion on that. And her ethnicity is what you want her to be, how your raise her, and her environment. No, it won't hurt her, and it won't be a benefit. Its for government tracking, most of the time that information is not tied back to her. Congrats on the Kinder achievement!

Generally, if there is anything "not white" about the person, the other ethnicity is chosen, so Hispanic would be your choice. There are no benefits to you, it's generally used for funding, I believe, which would benefit your school.

You can certainly leave it blank if you want, but the norm is to choose Hispanic in your case. :)

Well this one will probably get me into trouble but here goes. THE HUMAN RACE.

L.

M.,
my husband is Mexican American and I am White of Welsh and Irish origin. When I fill those forms out I check both selections, or write in "both" for Hispanic and White. We are raising our kids bilingual and aware of both.
Good luck!

-D. C.

dear M.,
i would probably list her as hispanic,being your husband actually knows his roots. i know this sounds funny but ive never actually seen white as a culture. the usa is a melting pot and half of its residents dont even know where theyve come from. youve just added a little falvor to your daughter and bringing the traditions from your family into it. there shouldnt be and "benefits" from enrolling her as one over another, that would be racial.
M.

Hispanic is a culture, not a race. Hispanics come in many colors and come from many countries, continents, and hemispheres. My father is from Puerto Rico and direct decendent of immigrants from Spain. So, am I European-American? He is also very fair and has blue eyes. If you saw him, what category would you put him in?

I do agree that in this day and time, checking the hispanic box might bring some financial advantages. I hadn't even thought of how we will refer to our children! My husband is Greek - white, I guess! My husband calls me Puerto Greecian!

No benefits directly to you. Occasionally there are some funding opportunities for schools who serve large minority populations, so if you check "hispanic" that might be better for your school. Or not. This is usually only applicable to schools who write grants. There might be grants out there for schools who are all arian, too. (I used to write grants. It's amazing what's out there.) So you never know. Otherwise the information is used for census purposes.

My kids are "biracial" too. I just leave the space blank because I find the question absurd. There is no scientific way of defining "races." There are no hard genetic markers. The term "ethnicity" means more because it implies belonging to, or originating from a culture. But what people are asking here has nothing to do with culture, rather opportunity. And if the only way we can assess that is through "race" than we're all losing.

Sorry for my rant. Its a sore spot with me ;)

ALSO: About college scholarships: I'm as minority as can be (indian descent ... east indian, not american indian) and I did not qualify for any minority scholarships because I wasn't a member of the right minorities. However, I had a roommate and a supervising teacher (when I was student teaching) spew hateful nonsense at me for taking scholarship money from "white" people because of my "racial" advantage. I schooled myself entirely on minimum wage and loans. Another sore spot... can't we all just be Human?

M., I'm like you (white, husband is Hispanic) and we have 2 children. We've always indicated their race as Hispanic. If you're husband is fluent in Spanish (reading, writing, speaking), I'd encourage him to teach your daughter as much as he can. She'll reap the benefits as she gets older.

My family is of the same mix as yours. I am white and my husband is hispanic. I have always been told that the kids are of the same race as their father. That and the fact they both look like him and I look like the step mom. I have one daughter in college and one daughter in high school. We have always identified them as hispanic and it did not really make any difference at all in terms of maybe getting financial aid when my daughter entered college. Between my husband and I, we were told our income was too high for her to qualify for financial aid.

I am Hispanic and my husband is white. The benefit of choosing the first one is for the school's benefit - the school gets more funds. If your children's first and main language is English then you should go for WHITE.

Not sure you care...but the US Census would classify her as hispanic. If either one of the parents are a different ethnicity than "white," they classify the child using the "minority" ethnicity.

I am black, my husband is white. Although our kids are light brown, they're considered black by society, so that's what we tell them, although they understand the nuances too. If your daughter is identified as Hispanic, that may help her in terms of special school programs, and eventually college scholarships, etc.

I don't know about benefits, but she will be considered, Hispanic because of her surname. My grandchilden went thru the same thing because their mother is also white, my son is Hispanic. They will go by your last name. Even though they look white like their Mother, they are considered Hispanic. BTDT--Good luck to your child in school, K. G

I think it is great that you are teaching her to embrace both cultures. But it is my opinion if you are looking for a BENEFIT the only way to answer is hispanic because white people have no benefits in this country. I suggest that you teach your children to be American and to be proud to be. Work hard and not to expect a handout. In today--the question should no longer be asked because everyone is equal except those that have organization that want to keep their race as poor poor pittiful me--give me--cause I do not want to earn I just want to take. Teach them to live, earn it and they will then appreciate. If you do not earn then all you want is it given to you and most never appreciate what others give. This country freely gives to ALL cultures EXCEPT white people born in this country.

Yes, there are benefits to picking Hispanic because there is more scholorships and help out there available for Hispanics. My mother is white, actually she is part white and part hispanic, but claims white becasue that is how she was raised. My mother claimed hispanice for me and my sisters because that is the race we most resemble and that is how we were raised. We are all dark with dark brown or black hair. My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc all speak spanish and english. We were raised in the hispanic culture. My advice to you is choice the race you are going to raise her as. If you choose to raise her in both races equally, then check both. By checking both you are passing on the respect of both cultures. She will reap the benefits of both races. If you are raising her in both cultures equally, than my choosing just one race, you are showing her disrepect to the other race. Please dont choose which race by the benefits, that is not fair to your daughter or to the race.

Hispanic. Benefits more scholarships and help programs as she grows up. Know from experience with five kids in the same situation

Your daughter’s race is most likely Caucasian. People often confuse race with ethnicity/cultural background. Hispanic is a term used for many people from different countries in Latin America typically Caucasian. You have an ethnicity also but you may not have as much awareness. For instance, I am a Caucasian (race) and Irish American (ethnicity) and my husband is Caucasian and Mexican- American (ethnicity). This is further confusing because many forms mix the race and the ethnicity questions together. My daughter often marks both or the “other” box and lists both her ethnicities

This question definitely got us going, huh? Society is becoming quite the melting pot, and it is time for our forms to reflect that change. I do not agree with Pattie. Your daughter is not only caucasian (WHITE), but Hispanic as well. I do agree with some of the other readers when they say to check the OTHER box. Until our forms can catch up to the times, and add a "Bi-Racial" or "Multi-Racial" box, then you should check OTHER. Best of luck to you and your family.

You got a ton of answers so don't know it mine matters. I am white, my husband Indian Asian. When the forms have "other" I put other. Other wise I put white. The school uses this information for statistics they must use. Now that my oldest is in college everyone tells him to mark Asian on forms because it is good for scholarships and helps sometimes for admittance.

I know this is not quite the same, and perhaps other moms with younder children will offer you suggestions for right now. I have a longer view approach to share; my young cousin was in the same situation when she faced registering for college, and she found that having used her Hispanic last name and heritage, rather than her Anglo side, afforded her resources and support she needed, financially. There were more programs, grants, and scholarships available to her.

It really makes sense to have a biracial category, as it is so much more prevalent now than in previous generations.

My husband and I have been discussing this topic a lot lately. Our family was formed through adoption, so we have a melange of "races" in the household. We have decided that we will either check off multiple boxes, fill out "other" or simply not check off any. I think Tiger Woods said it best - when he was asked why he didn't self-identify as black he said that it would be disrespectful of his mother.

I've always been told that unless you are 100% white (i.e. all grandparents are white) you would put your non-white heritage down. So many forms/questionnaires let you put more than one which is convenient, but if only one can be selected I would put Hispanic because like the pp said, there are quite a few college scholarships and grants specifically for minority students, plus your child's school may receive more funding if a large number of their students are minorities.

We ran into this problem a few years ago with my daughter. I put my race as Hispanic (I'm half Filipino), my husband calls himself white (he's a quarter Filipino, a quarter Chinese), so my daughter is more Asian than anything else. LOL!

How about putting the "Human" race?

Wow, I totally hear you! My son is black and white and we were talking about what to put down when he was born as well. You know I think that that is actually a question that you are not required to answer anymore legally. As far as there being benefits to opting for one over the other, I don't think so and I really hope not. My husband and I were talking about this recently and I really think our kids generation are going to be the ones to really make some strides in this area. So many of them will be "mixed", whatever that means since everyone is mixed anyway, that I think people will finally realize that "race"-as it relates to skin tone, is a made up thing. Now culture and customs are so cool and I think it is great you teach about both, how awesome for your kids. But back to your main question! I guess for now you might have to opt out of answering or just choose one, whichever seems right, or check two boxes! Best wishes :) Hope your daughter has a great year!

Why not check both boxes? Problem solved!

Gee, what a question!! My own question...still bugs me that they even have to ask that question. I always want to put HUMAN race but alas, I know stats are kept. Here's the deal. If you circle both white & Hispanic, I believe they are going to choose what culture the last name represents. My husband is white and I am Hispanic. I always circle both yet the forms always come back White and I always add a slash: White/Hispanic. Now I have another friend who's husband is Hispanic and she's white, the schools place their child as Hispanic.

I don't know that there are advantages or disadvantages if either is listed. I think its more statistics that the school have to maintain. We are raising our children to embrace all cultures and languages.

Good luck and frankly, they are both so don't worry about it too much, its how we as parents, raise them that the most important thing, not a label. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

Have a great year with your kindergartner!!

There are no benefits to choosing one over the other. Most folks choose for their child to be identified by the father's race. If it was my decision, I would identify her as biracial. I hope this helps.

I was faced with the same issues when both my children started K. List your child as hispanic. Although you are a long way from the scholarship process, she will have more scholarship opportunities as a minority.

I am white (Irish, English, German and Native American decent), my son's father is 100% Mexican (both of his parents, grandparents moved to CA from Mexico). Since I guess 'technically' my son is more 'mexican/hispanic', or whatever you want to call it to be politically correct, I checked Hispanic on his Birth Certificate and any other paperwork I've encountered over the last 9 1/2 years. And yes I've been told that in his future it could benefit him for college etc. His facial features are exactly like mine, but he has his dad's dark features...skin tone, hair color, eye color, etc........and has his dad's last name which is a Hispanic last name. So...........there ya go.

Best of luck