Racial Idenitity

When it comes to racial identity, it can be a quiet a confusing term. Many individuals have a hard time figuring out what category pertains to them. People can be a mixture of different ethnicities/races which makes it difficult for them to only choose one. The confusion comes from the changing of categories that the United States Census make. It is a battle between what the color your skin is, where you are from, and where your parents are from. There is never an ending to some
peoples historic backgrounds.
As a student we are tested through out our lives and when it comes to taking standardized tests, we have to identify ourselves by our race. As of now, the country is giving us very few options on what to choose in these situations. Many people check the “other” box because none of them pertain to them. This reminds me of one of the articles about dropping the hyphen and how a study was taken in a high school about what people identify themselves as. It was shown that most white students didn't consider themselves having a racial identity because the options were too broad.
The first article I found is called “For Many Latinos, Racial Identity is More Culture Than Color.” It explains the types of choices people have on what they are considered. It shouldn't matter on what you are or where you come from. The fact of the matter is everyone is different, no matter what race you consider yourself. When citizens have trouble choosing an option, they normally just leave it blank. So the question is what happens with the census? The census picks for you! They take a look at the city you live in and see what makes up most of your population. The results is what they choose for you. So if you live primarily in an African American neighborhood, then they will assume so are you. This not only affects the confusions about identity but also politically. It is a way too see which group is the largest.
Brazil is a one of the biggest Latin American countries and they have a wide variety of skin tones and racial backgrounds. So you could only imagine how difficult for them it is to choose an option when it comes to the census. Some are a mix of Afro-Latinos and others are of European decent. What many people don’t know is that there is a difference between a Hispanic and a Latino. A Hispanic is someone who speaks the Spanish language, or their country speaks the Spanish language. This includes Spain, a European country, and many other countries. A Latino/Latin American is someone who is from South America, Central America, and North America. Brazil would be considered Latino because their main language isn't Spanish, it is Portuguese.
The second article I chose starts off with a very a great point. The number one question that people ask us is where are you from? This can mean many things. Like where I was born, where I grew up, where I moved from, etc. In reality, what they really want to know is what your race is. The difficult thing about this discussion is that some families have many generations living here in the United States. You may be Mexican but only people who were from Mexico were your grandparents or your great grandparents. Leaving you and your parents being born in the United States. People like this consider themselves Mexican-American. Our society doesn't see it that way. We see people by their skin color and what their ethnicity is. What sad is that this type of thinking will never go away. It will always be about what you identify as no matter where you are from.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/us/for-many-latinos-race-is-more-culture-than-color.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.academia.edu/1977753/Identity_orientations_of_Latinos_in_the_United_States_Implications_for_leaders_and_organizations