These Images Show #WhatLatinosLookLike

*This is what drives a large chunk of non-Latinos crazy. Latinos look like everyone. More of this kind of media could help discard obsolete racial and ethnic boxes. VL

huffpo latinoBy Roque Planas and Ana Benedetti, Huffington Post Latino Voices

Despite facing plenty of criticism, The New York Times continued to speculate on Monday that Hispanics are identifying as white in larger numbers as part of a process of racial assimilation resembling that of Italian or Irish descendants.

The latest piece comes after both the Times and Slate pushed the theory forward. There were a lot of problems with the articles, starting with the fact that they based their broad generalizations on yet-to-be-released research that the reporters for neither publication actually read. Instead, they wrote based on a blog post at Pew that itself warned against drawing such conclusions. “By some measures, the data provide more evidence of Americans’ puzzlement about how the census asks separately about race and ethnicity,” Pew wrote, while still acknowledging that “there could be other reasons, too, such as evolving self-identity or benefits associated with being identified with some groups.”

The Times follow up “pinpoints another reason that more Hispanics are identifying as white,” by noting that the ethnicity question on the Census changed slightly between 2000 and 2010 — a point raised by Southern California University professor Manuel Pastor that sharply criticized the Times’ “white assimilation” theory. The Times didn’t note the criticism in its piece, instead choosing to end the article by reaffirming it.

While it may or may not be true that Latinos are assimilating into whiteness in large numbers, we’re holding off on making that call for reasons we’ve already discussed before — perhaps most importantly, that the Census doesn’t use terms that actually apply to many Latinos’ mixed-race background. We’re looking forward to the day that social scientists help the Census Bureau to finally resolve this complex issue. In the mean time, let’s take a moment to reflect on the fact that Latinos can be just about any color under the sun.

Below are just a few Latinos who prove that point. Send us your image through Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #Whatlatinoslooklike to add to the list!

READ MORE HERE

 

[Photo by Campanero Rumbero]

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