Aren't Hispanics caucasians too?

Question

Why do they list Hispanics as a different race if they are caucasians too? Or am I wrong?

I remember studying that even some black people in certain parts of Africa belong to the Caucasian race. I would like to hear the opinion of an anthropologist/archaeologist.
By the way, I'm Caucasian, the white type.

Answer 1

OK. First of all, the term "Hispanic" is an ethnic term, not a racial one, denoting a linguistic-based culture and quite Eurocentric at that. Hispanics can be of any race, however. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding over this in the last couple of decades.
On the U.S. Census, one first checks race: White, Black, Asian,etc. and then has the option to indicate Hispanicity. They aren't listed as a seperate race at all, it's just misunderstood to mean that. The only reason why it's even an issue is to track immigration trends. If most of the current wave of immigrants were Irish or Italian, i'm confident there would be a special listing for them as well. Up until the last census, hispanics, were automatically counted as white. Still are unless they specify otherwise.
There are three races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid & *******. Caucasoid, in addition to Europeans, also includes the peoples of North African, Soutwest Asian (Iranian, etc.), Middle Eastern & even Indian. One of the problems is that it has become "hip" to identify as nonwhite. It seems to be mostly the young who buy into this misconception. Lord knows why. I don't know any "older" folks, Anglo or Hispanic, who think that way. Also, skin color has absolutely no direct connection with race.
People from Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are mostly white. So are most Cuban-Americans. (Back in Cuba, however, about 30% are still unmixed white while the rest are mostly mulatto.) Mexicans are nearly 90% Mestizo, which is a mix of Spanish (white) & Amerindian. The Amerindian part seems to dominate. In some other Latin American countries, such as Costa Rica, the white part dominates. A small percentage of Latinos are black as well but for the most part, the answer to your question is YES! The real problem lies with so many people not understanding the difference between race and ethnicity.

Answer 2

Hispanics come in different kinds: it's basically a linquistic identifier, not a racial one. A Hispanic is someone from a country where most of the people speak Spanish.

At least 85% of the Hispanics in the United States are Mestizos, a hybridized race with White and Amerindian progenitors.

Mestizos are often miscalled Latinos because Central & South America were colonized by Europeans who spoke Romance languages (Spanish & Portuguese), which are most nearly related to Latin.

In Mexico, the Mestizos run the spectrum of color from nearly White to almost all Amerindian. Since the mixture produces pronounced differences in facial structure and hair color, you can usually tell the difference between a White and a Mestizo at a glance.

Obviously the two races are not the same. Nonetheless, the US Department of Justice, and its agencies (such as the FBI) nearly always lump "Hispanics" (i.e., Mestizos) into the White racial category for crime perpetrators. However, they usually distinguish between the two races when tallying crime victims.

Many people have speculated that the reason the US DoJ does this is to make it seem as if Whites commit more crimes than they really do, since the effect of considering Mestizos to be White is inflating the number of White crimes by about 25% to 30%.

Where the crime rates of the two races are separately tracked, Mestizos consistently exhibit per capita crime perpetration rates about three times higher than the White rate.

However, it's incorrect to say that "Hispanics" are a race. Mestizos are the race. It just so happens that most of the Hispanics in America are Mestizos.

Answer 3

well, Latinos are a blend of Caucasians (aka white) from Spain generally and the indigenous peoples of the area. So one can argue that they are at least part. This is why the "color" of Latinos range so much. Some are very dark, and others will have white skin. There are many Latinos out there that many people do not know are Latino because they are so fair skinned.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is some are, and generally most do have "white" ancestry.

Answer 4

Ethnicity is not equivalent to race. Race is only a component of ethnicity. What marketing research calls Hispanics also include different races. For instance, you can be African American and Cuban, and have a "typical Hispanic" last name such as Hernández. But, you can also be Cuban and have a British last name as Farray and technically qualified as a White-Caucasian with some degree of "hybridization" with Spaniards . However, you can also be a Cuban Jewish with a Germanic last name such as Wallerstein and still be "Hispanic".

Answer 5

In the United States, Caucasian is currently used primarily as a distinction loosely based on skin color alone for a group commonly referred to as White Americans, as defined by the American government and Census Bureau. In Europe, "Caucasian" refers exclusively to people who are from the Caucasus. Many South Asians in Britain could be categorised as Caucasian as well. For this reason 'White-European' is usually preferred for categorizing white people as it is more specific.[citation needed]

The term itself derives from measurements in craniology from the 19th century, and its name stems from the region of the Caucasus mountains, itself imagined to be the location from which Noah's son Japheth, traditional Biblical ancestor of the Europeans, established his tribe prior to its migration into Europe.

Caucasoid is a term used in physical anthropology to refer to people falling within a certain range of anthropometric measurements.

In New Zealand the term Caucasian is used most frequently in police offender descriptions. Pākehā, European New Zealander, or simply New Zealander (although in theory this should include all New Zealanders) are more common in general language.

In the United States the term "caucasian" has taken on a political rather than a scientific meaning. For example a large segment of the Hispanic community in the United States can be scientifically categorized as caucasian. Caucasian Hispanics, therefore, take offense to the political use of the word caucasian to describe the non-Hispanic caucasian population in the United States.

Answer 6

"Hispanic" is a political designation that has not place in serious discussion about race. In Texas, Latins were designated "Caucasian" until the late 50s. Hector P. Garcia was instrumental in getting that changed to further his own agenda. Many Mexicans are Indian, but I'm told that to call someone,"Indio", is a slur.

Answer 7

It looks like you could use an actual answer. Here it is.

A Hispanic person is a mixture of Spanish and Nahuatl. Nahuatl is the ethnicity of native South Americans (like the Aztecs, Toltecs, Olmecs, Mayans, etc.) This resulted from the colonization of South America by the Spanish.

I hope this helped.

Answer 8

Hispanic can relate to the following:

* related to, or derived from, the Roman province of Hispania ( Modern day Spain & Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula)
* related to, or derived from, the Spanish people or the culture of Spain or other Hispanophone countries
* related to Lusitanic
* related to, or derived from, the countries and culture of the people of Hispanic America
* related to, or derived from, Hispanic Americans living in the United States and their culture
* relating to the Spanish and Mexican period of colonial rule in the Philippines
* relating to the Spanish and Mexican derived influences on the Culture of the Philippines, but not in relation to said Filipino culture or the Filipino people, nor to that which derives from these.

Answer 9

actually, no...
the great majority of people are NOT caucasian. including most white people in the U.S..... the caucaus mountains are located in eastern europe. you are a true caucasian if your family originated in sweeden, austria, finland, russia etc.
the great majority of U.S. whites are Briton or Anglo-Saxon. So the term is widely miss-used. most hispanics (Hispania=Spain) are Iberic (originating from spain or France) and American Indian. such as Mexican = Iberian with Mexican indian... peruvian is Andian and Iberian and so on....

Answer 10

Ok I am Portuguese on my paternal side & a mix of Irish, English, anf German on my Maternal side. I have always considered myself a mixed race. So I always mark both White & other(Portuguese is not Hispanic)

Answer 11

Because they are a different race!!!! Would you consider an Asian Caucasian? I think not! Nor would they want to be considered that race. Every race is proud of their heritage.