For many Latinos filling out forms that ask for racial and ethnic identification can be daunting and confusing, especially when there is not a box that reflects their identity.
This often leaves many Latinos checking Hispanic boxes that do not encompass who they are and creating data that does not reflect their lived experiences, according to a new report released Wednesday by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Analysis by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute showed that the methods used by the U.S. Census and Office of Management and Budget to collect racial and ethnic data does not reflect the lived experiences of Latinos, especially Afro-Latinos. The report also provides some suggestions on how to generally improve collection of racial and ethnic data.
鈥淭he current methods of data collection used by the OMB fail to accurately reflect the realities of racial discrimination faced by Latinos,鈥 said Cecilia Nu帽ez, co-author of the report titled 鈥 鈥
鈥淭hese oversights have significant implications for policy development and resource allocation," said Nu帽ez, a graduate student and policy fellow at the institute. "Accurate and actionable data is essential for crafting effective policies and interventions that address the systemic inequities impacting Latinos and bringing meaningful change.鈥
Maritza Guridy, a resident of Philadelphia, said her whole life she has had to deal with never having one box that encapsulates who she is. Instead she checks her ethnicity as Hispanic and her race as Black.
In 2020, Guridy was a census worker in Philadelphia helping minorities fill out the federal survey, explaining what doing so meant for their community. She found many just like her struggled to check a box that reflected how they self-identified.
鈥淚f a person considers themselves Afro-Latino there wasn鈥檛 a section for them,鈥 Guridy said. 鈥淚t is something that does need to be changed. It does need to be recognized and respected, if that is a person鈥檚 choice on how to identify themselves.鈥
Nu帽ez said when data ignores the diversity of the Latino community and the 鈥渧astly different experiences across unique identities鈥 the issues they face get left out of policy conversations.
Earlier this year, the U.S. government changed the way it by race and ethnicity, in an effort that federal officials said would more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic, Middle Eastern and of North African heritage. Under the revisions, . That will give respondents the option to pick multiple categories at the same time, such as 鈥淏lack,鈥 鈥淎merican Indian鈥 and 鈥淗ispanic.鈥
Research has shown that large numbers of Hispanic people aren鈥檛 sure when that question is asked separately because they understand race and ethnicity to be similar and they often pick 鈥渟ome other race鈥 or do not answer the question.
Nancy Lop茅z, a professor and the director and co-founder of the University of New Mexico鈥檚 Institute for the Study of 鈥淩ace鈥 and Social Justice, said with the change people who check the Hispanic and Black or African American boxes are going to be marked as multi-racial instead someone who is of Latino ethnicity and a certain race. Lop茅z said this is problematic as data will then show a higher number of people who are multiracial and undercut the number of Afro-Latinos.
鈥淚 call that statistical gaslighting,鈥 Lop茅z said. 鈥淏ecause they say we鈥檙e keeping the analytical distinction, we鈥檙e not calling Hispanic a race but we鈥檙e going to ask about it with race.鈥
Filling out the 2020 Census was one of the Methuen, Massachusetts resident Antonio Caban鈥檚 most troubling memories, having to check the other box despite being a Brazilian who identifies as Latino. Caban likened filling out the census to trying to find a Hispanic name on a keychain at souvenir stores.
鈥淭his has been an issues for a lot of people in the Latino community, particularly Afro-Latinos and Asian-Latinos,鈥 Caban said.
For Syreeta Bond, a resident of Austin, Texas, filling out forms can be difficult to navigate when there is no consensus among agencies what options to offer for Latinos. As an Afro-Latina, she found it weird that she could not check a box that reflected her dual identity.
鈥淚 love my Black side and I love my Puerto Rican side, but I always had to pick one or the other,鈥 Bond said. 鈥淚f it has Hispanic or Latino I will pick that one because if it says Black but not Latino, I can鈥檛 pick that one.鈥
In their report, the UCLA researchers propose adding a street or perceived race question to the census and for the census office to define its demographic parameters clearly. The report identified 鈥渟treet race鈥 as the race a stranger would assume someone to be based on their physical appearance.
Nu帽ez said including the question would help to solve the implications of combining the race and ethnicity question, and provide additional understanding into how Latinos are racialized in public.
鈥淚t highlights the ways in which racism and discrimination is often based on being a visual person of color regardless of how one identifies and the ways that might matter, especially for Latinos,鈥 Nu帽ez said.
___
The Associated Press receives financial support from the Sony Global Social Justice Fund to expand certain coverage areas. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
