Census question confuses

(Posted by Jesus Alfredo Galindo)
EL PASO - Many Hispanics do not know they are white. But, in the U.S. Census Bureau's eyes, they probably are.

For people such as former baseball star Sammy Sosa, who is a black Dominican, it may be easy to fill out a 2010 Census form.

But Hispanics may be confused over the questions of race and ethnicity found in the form being mailed out this month.

"The race question is the question I get the most queries about," U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said Monday in a national conference call. "This is a question that changes every decade."

In question No. 8, the bureau asks if a person is of Hispanic origin. Then, in the following question, the person must mark his or her race.

The Census Bureau gives respondents many options, but classifies data into five races - white, black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native and other Pacific Islanders.

"This is one of the stickier issues," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund. "About half of Latinos who respond to the census consider being Latino their racial category."

His is one of the organizations the secretary of commerce appointed to the 2010 Census advisory committee. It has been instrumental among Latino groups in campaigning for census participation.
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