Can a U.S. citizen, whose paternal grandfather was born and raised in Cuba, and
whose parents were born and raised in the U.S. (and whose mother is
not of Hispanic origin), be considered an
Hispanic for legal purposes in Illinois?

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 26 Jan 2006 21:34 PST

rsb762...

I'm not sure what you mean by "legal" purposes, so I'll
hold off on posting a formal answer, but I'm personally
not aware of any situation in which this categorization
would come under legal scrutiny.

Whether someone is of hispanic origin is something that
is preferred to be self-reported, when at all possible,
and falls under the realm of "ethnicity" rather than 
"race".

A very thorough discussion of the evolution of the term
and its usage is given in the article 'Legally Hispanic'
by Richard L Vázquez on LasCulturas.com:
http://www.lasculturas.com/aa/aa051701a.htm

"They were legally white but also legally and socially
 discriminated against. They were marked white without
 ever receiving the benefits of the label. When the
 Civil Rights Act came along in 1964, it addressed
 discriminated [SIC] based on race and color. Hispanic
 groups were still outside of the discussion. In 1976,
 Latino civil rights groups (NCLR, LULAC, MALDEF) lobbied
 together with various Spanish-speaking groups and got
 Public Law 94-311 passed by Congress. This created an
 umbrella for 'Americans of Spanish origin or descent'
 and mandated that the progress and welfare for this
 group be monitored. In 1977, the Office Of Management
 And Budget issued Directive 15 - 'Race and Ethnic
 Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative
 Reporting'. This issued in the governmental use of the
 word Hispanic and defined it as 'A person of Mexican,
 Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other
 Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.'"

Much more on the page:
http://www.lasculturas.com/aa/aa051701a.htm


Directive 15, to which he refers, can be found on this
page of the site:
http://www.lasculturas.com/lib/lawOMB15.htm

It notes:

"The category which most closely reflects the individual's
 recognition in his community should be used for purposes
 of reporting on persons who are of mixed racial and/or
 ethnic origins."

[...]

"Self-identification is the preferred means of obtaining
 information about an individual's race and ethnicity,
 except in instances where observer identification is
 more practical (e .g., completing a death certificate)."

[...]

"Definitions

 The basic racial and ethnic categories for Federal statistics
 and program administrative reporting are defined as follows:

 a. American Indian or Alaskan Native. A person having origins
    in any of the original peoples of North America, and who
    maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation
    or community recognition.

 b. Asian or Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any
    of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia,
    the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area
    includes, for example, China, India, Japan, Korea, the
    Philippine Islands, and Samoa.

 c. Black. A person having origins in any of the black racial
    groups of Africa.

 d. Hispanic. A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban,
    Central or South American or other Spanish culture or
    origin, regardless of race.

 e. White. A person having origins in any of the original 
    peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

[...]

"Utilization for Record keeping and Reporting

 To provide flexibility, it is preferable to collect data
 on race and ethnicity separately. If separate race and
 ethnic categories are used, the minimum designations are:

a. Race:
   -- American Indian or Alaskan Native
   --Asian or Pacific Islander
   --Black
   --White

b. Ethnicity:
   --Hispanic origin
   --Not of Hispanic origin"

And much, much more.
http://www.lasculturas.com/lib/lawOMB15.htm


If this satisfies your interests in asking the question,
post a Clarification letting me know, and I'll post a 
formal answer. If there's more you need to understand,
let me know that, as well.

A user's guide on Clarifications is on skermit-ga's site: 
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#how_clarify 
 
sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Question by rsb762-ga on 27 Jan 2006 05:31 PST

The person in question is seeking admission to a postgraduate
professional school and ethnicity is a question that is asked on the
application.

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 27 Jan 2006 11:30 PST

rsb762...

You said:

"The person in question is seeking admission to a postgraduate
 professional school and ethnicity is a question that is asked
 on the application."

Given the criteria I noted above, the person in question is
free to self-report as:

White, of hispanic origin, or, white, not of hispanic origin,
in consideration of the following guideline:

"The category which most closely reflects the individual's
 recognition in his community should be used for purposes
 of reporting on persons who are of mixed racial and/or
 ethnic origins."

I would also suspect that a person who "is seeking admission
to a postgraduate professional school" has answered this 
question many times in the past, on other forms. Is there
any reason not to use what has been reported in the past?

sublime1-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 27 Jan 2006 11:55 PST

rsb762-ga,


Please have a look at this link:


http://esnips.com/web/GoogleAnswers


and click on the file named [ Hispanic Origin ].


This is an excerpt from an actual application at an Illinois College. 
There are a few things worth noting:


1.  The section is optional, as is almost always the case.  There is
generally no obligation to identify one's race or ethnicity.  If one
chooses to do so, it is -- as sublime1-ga has already noted -- a
personal decision as to how one chooses to characterize themselves.

2.  Also, one of the check-boxes specifically provides an option for
identifying oneself as of Cuban origin, which the person could
certainly use if they see fit to do so.



On a related note, if the person is interested in grants or other
forms of financial assistance geared towards Hispanics, it is likely
that each financial program has its own definition of who is (or is
not) eligible for the program.  This isn't a matter of any formal
legal definition, so much as it is a choice by each individual
organization.


Does this information meet your needs?  If not, what else would you
like to know, to make for a complete answer to your question?


Let us know,

pafalafa-ga