Census sample document: Hispanics Can Now Honor Their Native Heritage — download PDF.
Voices of America article and radio story: Decimated Tribe Seeks Recognition Through 2010 Census
San Marcos Daily Record story: A Census Campaign, Hispanics can claim Native American heritage
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez, article: Census: Masking Identities or Counting the Indigenous Among Us?
Ahora Si! article: Un mal conteo cuesta mucho
By: Heidi Zhou – News 8 Austin
The U.S. Census has changed the way it collects information about Hispanics and American Indians, in a way that could help the latter gain more recognition.Mario Garza and his wife, Maria Rocha, will tell you ethnicity and race are two different things. The couple runs the Indigenous Cultures Institute, a 2010 Census partner working to educate Hispanics about how to fill out the census form.
“According to your DNA, there are four races, and one of them is American Indian,” Rocha said.
The other three include white, black and Asian. Hispanic is considered an ethnicity.
“You can identify as a Taino, Mexican American, Mexican. All of those are national words, but not exactly racial words,” Rocha said.
It is by such standards that the couple can consider themselves Hispanic and American Indian at the same time.
The couple said the new wording of the 2010 Census shows the U.S. government is finally willing to give American Indians their due weight.”It finally validates to the individual it’s not only OK to be American Indian, it’s a good thing, and the Census wants to know,” Rocha said.
It wants to know because funding and programs for various groups depend on the results, and in those terms, experts say race and ethnicity really are more than just words.
Tags: Census, Indigenous Cultures Institute, Media, News 8 Austin, Video
Some people have said that the US immigration office is going to trace census respondents, find out if they are in this country legally, then locate and deport them if they are not. It’s part of a crackdown on undocumented workers — SO wrong!