Census 2010

Open up the Census (the first one I've ever had to fill out) and what do I find? An envelope full of insecurities.

I thought the Census was a way to get a head count not a way to force categories upon people. It makes me so confused!

Question No.8: Is person 1 of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?
My Answer: Yes, yes and yes

No problem, it even has a "Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am. or Chicano" box. Woohoo! So far so good.

Question No. 9: What is person No. 1's race?
Uh-oh starting to get a bit uncomfortable.
White, Black, American Indian...
Ummm, no.
Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino...
Made it through the list without seeing a "race" that I can check.

I don't consider myself "white". Actually, I don't think any Latino under the age of 39 considers himself "white". This mentality courtesy of the Latino identity revolution called College. *Can't speak for every brown person in the US but this definitely applies to me*

I finally broke down and checked "other" and wrote in "Mexican-American". Yes I realize that is a nationality but it was what I was comfortable with.

What else would I do other than say "I'm in the Human Race" which is true but I can't take the easy way out. I'd like to be proud of my race without thinking someone will use this information to screw me in the end?

What does it matter if I'm brown, white, yellow, orange or blue? No matter how many Latinos, Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians, etc. there are in a community, that community should have and must have the opportunity to a great education, good health care and a political voice.

I read that one of the main reasons Latinos should complete the Census is so we can have a proportionate number of Latinos in a political seat. This is ridiculous. Although I'm all for Hispanics *I shudder at the word* striving to succeed in whatever it is their chosen career is, shouldn't a politician do what is in their constituents best interest even if they are of a different race?


If the "race question" really has that much of an impact on my life then I think I should be very frightened.