Posted on April 30, 2014

Hispanics More Likely to Write In Race on Census, Study Shows

Carolina Moreno, Huffington Post, April 7, 2014

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A U.S. Census report released in late March showed that of the more than 47 million self-identified Hispanics in the United States, one in three chose to write in their race on the 2010 census form.

On the form, individuals are asked to check a box under the question “What is Person 1’s race?” The choices include “White,” “Black, African American or Negro,” “American Indian or Alaska Native,” “Pacific Islander,” and a variety of options for Asian descendants.

A separate question asks whether an individual is of Hispanic origin. According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, “Hispanic” is currently the only ethnic category in the census and was first implemented in 1980.

The new Census report, however, revealed that among those 47.4 million self-identified Hispanics, almost 16 million chose to write in their race next to the “some other race” option, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Among them, 44.3 percent gave their race as Mexican, Mexican American or Mexico, and 22.7 percent wrote in Hispanic, Hispana or Hispano. Another 10 percent identified as Latin American, Latino or Latin.

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