Latinos, the Census that counts you as WHITE, and Future School Drop Outs

Latinos, Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Arab-Americans, Bahamian-Americans and how you count everyone accurately; I’ve always been confused that as Latinos/Chicanos we are categorized as “white” and you can only choose between white and black, despite the fact we are a more than this, including our indígena roots, and more so a multi-ethnic society. Unfortunately, NSF and all federal agencies, including those working in education, also use these antiquated definitions still. I thought I’d share this interesting article this rainy morning; no wonder some school administrators we work with in the field are confused. No wonder race continues to be a difficult subject to engage with in this country. I guess for now, I will be an OTHER.:)

And speaking of OTHER, I was in Puyallup last week speaking with a class about continuing their education and the benefits and need, and I’m always inspired by youth. I’m saddened, however, that ELL (English Language Learners) are or will be the latest victims of the budget cuts. Those kids have a higher probability of being the next high school drop outs. This won't help an already struggling economy.

Some issues never change, whether your on the border of the Southwest or in the Northwest. I attached the article BELOW.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100329/us_time/08599197588300

Why the U.S. Census Misreads Hispanic and Arab Americans
By TIM PADGETT / MIAMI Tim Padgett / Miami – 58 mins ago

Hispanic advocates often tell the story of a Census Bureau worker who visits a Puerto Rican household in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood. Seeing the family's caramel complexion, the Census taker asks which race he should put down for them - white or black. To which the family answers: "Puerto Rican."

The story could substitute a Mexican-American family - or Colombian- or Nicaraguan-American ones for that matter - but the gist would be the same. Many, if not most, Hispanics in the U.S. think of their ethnicity (also known as Latino) not just in cultural terms but in a racial context as well. It's why more than 40% of Hispanics, when asked on the Census form in 2000 to register white or black as their race, wrote in "Other" - and they represented 95% of all the 15.3 million people in the U.S. who did so. (See the 25 most influential Hispanics in America.)

An even larger share of Hispanics, including my Venezuelan-American wife, is expected to report "Other," "Hispanic" or "Latino" in the race section of the 2010 census forms being mailed to U.S. homes this month. What makes it all the more confusing if not frustrating to them is that Washington continues to insist on those forms that "Hispanic origins are not races." If the Census Bureau lists Filipino and even Samoan as distinct races, Hispanics wonder why they - the product of half a millennium of New World miscegenation - aren't considered a race too. "It's a very big issue," says Angelo FalcÓn, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy in New York City and a community adviser to the Census. "A lot of Hispanics find the black-white option offensive, and they're asserting their own racial uniqueness." (See the making of Sonia Sotomayor.)

Full Article : http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100329/us_time/08599197588300