Excited
When I was filling out the census form for my household, I came across question 8 (see picture), and I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. For myself, I answered no. For The Wife, the Brother-in-Law, and my kids, it wasn’t so simple. They definitely have Spanish origins, as The Wife’s side of the family has ancestors from Spain. The Wife is light-skinned, as is one of my sons. People debate whether Filipinos are Asians, but this made me wonder: are Filipinos, at least some of them, Hispanic?
Being Hispanic could be considered advantageous. Given accusations of redlining Asian-American at elite universities and University of California admission policy changes that some say would lower Asian-American enrollment, having “non-Asian status” could help Filipinos. There is no question of Spanish influence on Filipino culture, names, and language. There are many Filipinos like my wife and children who have Spanish ancestry. There are even some Filipinos who speak Spanish at home as their preferred language, and there is a Spanish-based creole language (it uses Spanish words for vocabulary but with a non-Spanish grammar) called Chavacano.
It turns out that I am not the only one left uncomfortable by question 8 and other race associated census questions. I looked online and saw a number of discussions like this one from Yahoo Answers about whether Filipino are Hispanic. I called the census bureau’s help line, who basically read me a longer version of question 8. I asked what I should answer, and they said that they couldn’t tell me what I should answer. I asked The Wife what I should answer for her, and she said while she has Spanish ancestry, she is Filipino.
In the end, I ended up checking no for question 8, and checked off the Filipino category for question 9. What do you think? Did I do the right thing? Are Filipinos Hispanic?
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Felipe Robles Perales
Se me olvidó decir que los norteamericanos influyeron poco en la cultura filipina. La decisión de seguir con la enseñanza del inglés norteamericano ha fallado pues esencialmente tenemos mucho más en común con cualquier país hispano. Cuando estuve en Lima me sentí como en casa. Muchas costumbres eran iguales o parecidas.
Ernie H.
(Translation: "I forgot to say that the Americans had little influence in Filipino culture. The decision to follow the teaching of American English has failed because essentially we have much more in common with any Hispanic country. When I was in Lima I felt at home.Many customs were the same or similar.")
Felipe Robles Perales
Aquí en Manila en mi casa todos hablamos español pues mis abuelos eran filipinos de habla hispana. Al referirme a mi familia somos más de cien, primos carnales, primos segundos y demás. Cuando supimos que Gloria Arroyo iba a reintroducir la enseñanza del castellano en el sistema educativo filipino nos alegramos muchísimo porque así nos da más reconocimiento a los que seguimos hablando castellano en el archipiélago. Me gustaría que los políticos de habla castellana salieran del armario por así decirlo para que el pueblo filipino se dé cuenta de que los que hablamos la lengua cervantina somos cientos de miles o incluso unos cuantos millones.
Felipe Robles Perales
Ernie H.
(Translation: "Here in Manila in my house we all speak Spanish because my grandparents wereSpanish-speaking Filipinos. In referring to my family are over a hundred first cousins, second cousins and so on. When we learned that Gloria Arroyo was to reintroduce the teaching of Castilian in the Philippine educational system we are very happy because it gives us more recognition to those who continue to speak Castilian in the archipelago. I wish the Spanish-speaking politicians come out of the closet so to speak for the Filipino people realize that those who speak the language of Cervantes are hundreds of thousands or even a few million.")
SavannahSvenska
Interesting topic. Filipinos, Filipino-Americans should be proud that they have a unique and identity, but still a multi-faceted culture! It seemed that your ancestors were resilient and robust to retain your identity (proclaiming indepence from countries that have ruled over your country for years i.e. Spain and much later the United States). "Other" Asians are often lumped under one category "Asian", and also Hispanics from different countries are lumped into just one generic "Hispanic" and even "Latino". Wow, imagine having a separate box to check designating your heritage from one specific country, whereas there are "Whites/Caucasians" whose ancestors were from an unidentified European country or elsewhere. There is not even a box for an "Italian-American" because he/she is simply grouped under "White". Hmmmmmm......
multifaceted
I think your wife is definitely Hispanic and definitely Filipina. Identity is multifaceted. Filipinos can be Pacific Islander, Asian, Hispanic, and Filipino all at the same time. By choosing multiple options on the Census, it would help to better reflect the actual ethnic, racial, and cultural identities of the United States.
I grew up around Latino, Asian, and Filipino peoples and cultures. I speak Spanish and Iu00e2u0080u0099ve studied some Japanese, Khmer, Chinese, Thai, and Tagalog. Iu00e2u0080u0099ve always seen a definite connection between Tagalog and Spanish. From my experiences, Filipinos and other Hispanic people share many cultural ideas, beliefs, practices, and ethnic characteristics. Filipinos are a diverse group of individuals who share many cultural ideas, beliefs, practices, and ethnic characteristics with many other ethnic groups simultaneously.
As Hispanics, we all have indigenous roots with varying degrees of Spanish ancestry. Why would Filipinos be any different? The only reason why Hispanic Latinos are seen as related is because we all have some Spanish blood and speak Spanish. Before the Spanish invaded or colonized, we had separate identities, cultures, and languages; we were not seen as a group of racially or culturally similar people.
As for speaking a Latin language, the Philippines are official members of the Latin Union. Just because Filipinos can indentify as Hispanic does not mean that they cannot be Asian or Pacific Islander. We need to create unity and see beyond single identities.
http://www.unilat.org/SG/Organisation/Presentation...
http://filipinocultured.blogspot.com/2007/10/julio...
VictorIvanDuenas
Hispanicu00e2u0080u0094from the Roman Empire's region "Hispania", now known as Espau00c3u00b1a (Spain). In that sense, since the Spaniard conquests and colonization reached The Philippines, Filipinos could be considered Hispanic and their languages Latino by way of Latin influence from the Spanish.
Oh yeah they're also Latins. Yes its true & I think the US should study more about the Latin world & who is a Latino. Well about your curiosity as to whether you're a Latino or Asian, well Latinos or Hispanics can be of any race & it depends as to whether you speak a Latin language or practice Latin culture or came from or descendant of any Latin country then you are a Latino. Make it Asian-Latino coz of your Japanese heritage. As for Filipinos, I don't count them as one coz their culture is not Latin, juz influenced but is not predominant aside from they don't speak a Latin language & neither do they have a population of 1/3 or more w/ Hispanic heritage.
You forgot Romansch which still is official in Switzerland.
Sure I know what means Hispanic and Latino, as well the Etymology behind these word. I just wanted to make a point about classification system (the Census) that is not perfect and still ignores some groups.
Anyway
Besos
Isaac
That's because these people who ever thought of that question are too dumb to even know what a Latino is. They always interchange Hispanic & Latino but in reality, these two words are different. Latinos are those whose origins are from any country that speaks a romance language (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French & Romanian). Aside from Spanish, the Portuguese, French, Italians, Romanians, Brazilians, Haitians etc. are also considered Latinos too but not Hispanic since the latter refers to those w/ origins from Spanish speaking countries. Just need to follow this logic: All Hispanics are Latinos but not all Latinos are Hispanics.
YES you did the right thing dude. You can't be Hispanic if you're not 1. descendant of Spaniard, Mexican or other Spanish speaking country. 2. Don't speak Spanish as first language or lingua franca (I speak Spanish & Tagalog, having been exposed to Filipinos, so I know the big difference between the 2 languages) 3. Don't practice Hispanic culture (I mean pure Hispanic culture, not just some influences like in Filipino culture). Although Spain colonized Phils. but there were no big impact happened unlike in Latin America. The people were able to retained their Malay offsprings & some customs.
Why is it so hard for a lot of Filipinos to accept the fact that they're just simply Asians? Or why they not contented w/ being a Filipino? If not Hispanics, then they will claim to be Pacific Islanders. Others even try to claim they're Spanish just because of a surname. Personally I met many who actually do that & frankly everytime I hear one say that, I can't help but think at the back of my mind "But you don't look mixed". Only less than 3% of Filipinos have Hispanic lineage while over 95% are unmixed Malays. In addition Phils is not considered as Pacific Islanders otherwise Japanese people should be included too since they live closer to the Pacific than Philippines. Honestly whenever I talk to Filipinos, I feel as if I'm talking to Thais, Malaysians or Indonesians & I don't get the same feeling as if I'm with my fellow Hispanics. Sorry guys but you can't be Hispanic. Its not a matter of choice whether you accept this or not but it is simply a FACT.
Let's just be Filipino and nothing else.
I repeat - Let's just be Filipino and NOTHING else.
Not even Filipino-Chinese, Filipino-Spanish, and so on...
Why complicate things.
Sometimes it really gets silly.
We do not even have to belabor about being asian or not.
Anyway, I have a rule for you all:
If you meet an asian face with a hispanic name, you have a Filipino.
Jeff, at UCSF, though I'm not sure at other UC's, being Filipino, unlike other Asian Americans, is considered being an underrepresented minority, even though it doesn't mean much in the whole grand scheme of things. It's a strange position since because of that designation, I'm eligible for certain scholarships and other financial aid, but if I were at another school, I probably wouldn't have it.
The only reason why this would make a difference is that if Filipino Americans did start putting down Hispanic/Latino in the census is that government funds for nonprofits, etc., would be targeted towards that community and not towards Asian Americans. It would become interesting in minor ways, particularly in realms such as funding for HIV/AIDS, where Filipinos have the highest numbers among Asian Americans, and putting down "Hispanic" would devastate nonprofit agencies that depend on that money to provide resources for those people.
Re: Government disagreeing/punishment.
I highly doubt that the government is going to prosecute anyone for anyone for filling out race data that doesn't "match" unless intentional fraud is involved.
For the purpose of the Census, the government is not "casting judgement" on what people fill out. If you call in and ask for help, Census helpers are explicitly instructed NOT to tell people what to fill out, only to give options such as: "Yes, you can check multiple boxes. Yes, you can write-in your ethnicity."
The Census is simply the way that the government is trying to count people but what people choose to put on the form is completely self-identified. This means if Bai Ling decides that she is not Asian and wants to write-in "Moon-y," she can. (She might be the only one, however.)
The fact that the Census data is all self-identified is also why, for instance, you can check more than one box under race (up until through the 1990 Census, you had to check ONE BOX for race).
Additionally, for gay and lesbian couples, they can check that they consider themselves husband/wife to people in the house, but as we know, most states do not currently recognize gay marriages. This doesn't stop people from identifying themselves as such for the purposes of the Census. Would the government punish people for that? I certainly hope not.
I could talk about this for days, but let's put it in a simple way.
Hispanic is usually used to refer to the people of Spanish speaking countries, which is why Brazilians wouldn't be referred to as Hispanics...but still Latinos since their country is in Latin-America. Hispanic is no longer considered as a race on the U.S census., since any race can also be Hispanic if they fall under the certain criteria as mentioned above. I would say to the Filipinos who can prove that they have Spanish heritage (and not just based on last names) then sure they too would be Hispanic or part Spanish. The Philippines used to (keyword: used to) have Spanish as an official language, and is also part of the Latin-Union.
The question of if Filipinos are Hispanic, goes with the many topics of if Filipinos are Asian or Pacific Islander, etc. Let's also not forget that the Philippines isn't the only Asian country/territory that has been colonized, so this includes the French influence in Vietnam...the Portuguese influence in Macau...or just even the ethnic diversity in Malaysia.
At the end of the day, I think it all depends on your own views. Race/nationality/ethnicity is a very controversial topic, which is why if you ever bring up the question of Manu Ginobili's race or ethnicity, Is he White or Latino?...some people on sport forums will still argue that he's either or and not both.
Jeff, I assume you don't mind identifying as an Asian since you blog for 8asians. If you choose to be Hispanic and can prove it...I say go for it. One question though, what happens if a person marks a certain ethnicity or multiple ethnicities and the government disagrees? are there consequences such as fines or imprisonment?
Your dad is awesome.
Thanks! First time someone said my name is "awesome". But it's not a common name here either. People keep me ask why I have a "Jewish" name...
However, when some body ask this kind of question I ask if she/he is Portuguese, Italian, German, etc (depend on the person name).
By the way, dad is a sci-fi and Isaac Asimov fan... that's why my name.
Which explains the pretty awesome name "Isaac Kojima." All the Asian Americans here are named Jen or Christine or Mike.
(Hi Jen, Christine and Mike!)
Never mind, got my doubt cleared (http://www.prb.org/Articles/2009/questionnaire....)... but now another one. Are Brazilians among Latinos...when I take a look at question 8, I have the impression that Latinos are only people with Hispanic heritage, which exclude Brazilians (former Portuguese colony) and Haiti and others formers French colonies...
Hi. Greetings from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ok, now I'm curious. If I'm filling the US census, what would be my an answer? Am I Latino? Am I Asian? By the way... I'm a second generation Japanese Brazilian from both sides...
@Confuse_Us
The term "Asian" is NOT meaningless. It is a social construct, just like race in general.
The meaning of "white" has changed DRASTICALLY over time and is completely arbitrary. (see: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?st...)
But being arbitrary, or changing with historical/contemporary context, does NOT make the concept of "whiteness" meaningless. In the same way, the construction of an Asian American identity, and the banding together of groups who are seen as "the same" by the mainstream, is a powerful tool for political and cultural unity in the face of adversity.
At least Filipinos have their own box to check!
The term "Asian" is meaningless. The definition of it changes according to who you ask, and historically has been used to describe, Armenians, Russian, Arabs, Persians, Asian Indians and East Asians. No-one should use the term Asian.
For that reason it's pointless to define Filipinos as "Asian", since "Filipino" conveys more meaning and describes more than the term "Asian", but the same also applies to the Japanese, Chinese and everyone else in Asia. But, yeah Filipinos have a heavy enough Spanish influence to say that we are Hispanic. Maybe we can call ourselves Hispano-Malays!!
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