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0 pointscplanas4y ago0 comments

I doubt that it can be taken seriously as a medical question, as some of the American "races" don't cluster genetically. Hispanic is probably the worst offender, but Asian is pretty bad too.

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Retric4y ago

US also uses a definition of “black” that includes people that are genetically 90% “white.”

kitten_mittens_4y ago

Hispanic isn't a race according to the Census Bureau.

> The United States Census Bureau uses Hispanic or Latino to refer to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race

The way it's used in popular imagination is as a "race" though. My mom doesn't see Pope Francis as hispanic because he isn't mestizo.

cplanasOP4y ago

I am a "Hispanic" that lives in the US. I am also European. In my experience what qualifies as an Hispanic varies incredibly from institution to institution, from person to person. A few months ago I was admitted briefly to the hospital, my race (not ethnicity) was marked as "Hispanic". Other times, in other places, I have been assumed to be "white".

Also, you wouldn't believe how much better I am treated when I am perceived as "white".

mistrial94y ago

this is fundemental to American politics

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo153451...

cplanasOP4y ago

I read that book when I arrived to the US: really interesting. IMO, the activists that pushed the idea of the "Hispanic" race/ethnicity into the American mindset made a huge mistake. Racializing yourself is a bad thing, even if the government gives you a few pennies in exchange.

SpicyLemonZest4y ago

Well, I think you’ve missed important context here. Darker skinned Latinos didn’t have a choice to not be racialized; “Hispanic” was introduced as an alternative to the prevailing practice of just using the Spanish-speaking country with the most local expats as an informal race designator. White Latinos could in principle have defected and chosen to identify as just white, but I’m glad we didn’t.

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MathCodeLove4y ago

But some do. Its easier to ask for race than it is to ask for genetic makeup.

skissane4y ago

Do any of them really cluster genetically? Compare a person whose ancestors come from Senegal to a person whose ancestors come from Mozambique – Americans will call both persons "Black", yet I would not expect those two people to have many recent ancestors in common, or much "genetic clustering" at all.

sseagull4y ago

You are thinking too literally. It's just a question that opens the door to more discussion. It's another piece of information, not the end of the discussion.

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Retric4y ago

US also uses a definition of “black” that includes people that are genetically 90% “white.”

kitten_mittens_4y ago

Hispanic isn't a race according to the Census Bureau.

> The United States Census Bureau uses Hispanic or Latino to refer to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race

The way it's used in popular imagination is as a "race" though. My mom doesn't see Pope Francis as hispanic because he isn't mestizo.

cplanasOP4y ago

Also, you wouldn't believe how much better I am treated when I am perceived as "white".

mistrial94y ago

this is fundemental to American politics

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo153451...

cplanasOP4y ago

SpicyLemonZest4y ago

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MathCodeLove4y ago

But some do. Its easier to ask for race than it is to ask for genetic makeup.

skissane4y ago

sseagull4y ago

You are thinking too literally. It's just a question that opens the door to more discussion. It's another piece of information, not the end of the discussion.

1 more reply

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