White Americans

White Hispanic and Latino Americans

This article concerns itself with Americans whose race is white and whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino; i.e. Hispanic or Latino White Americans.

The concepts of race and ethnicity are mutually independent in the Office of Management and Budget's and United States Census Bureau's definitions. Thus, every American is identified by both a race and an ethnicity. The distinction made by government agencies for those within the population of any official race category, including White American, is between those who report Hispanic or Latino backgrounds and all others who do not. In the case of White Americans, these two groups are respectively termed "White Hispanics" and "non-Hispanic Whites", the former being those who report ancestry from the people of Spain or Hispanic Latin America, and the latter consisting of an ethnically diverse collection of all others who are classified as White Americans that do not report Hispanic backgrounds.

Demographic information

In the 2007 American Community Survey 24.4 million, or 51.9% of the then 45,427,437 million total Hispanic and Latino Americans self-identified as white, an increase from 47.9% in the 2000 census. Hispanics and Latinos who reported "Some other race" (meaning they do not identify with any of the standard racial categories given in the census) are the second largest group, at 41.2%, down from 42.2% in 2000. (The 2006 figures for racial categories chosen by Hispanics in the US Census other than "white" or "some other race" are: "Two or more races" or multiracials, 3.9%; Black, 1.4%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.8%; Asian, 0.35%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.1%.) Respondents in the "Some other race" category are officially reclassified as white by the Census Bureau in some official estimates of race. This means that more than 90% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans end up being counted as "white" in some statistics of the US Census (which would equal 41 million in 2006).

Mexican Americans compose the majority (64%) of all Hispanic and Latino Americans, and similarly, Mexican Americans who identify themselves as "white" comprise the majority (59% in 2000) of all "White Hispanic or Latino" Americans. The second largest number of Hispanics identifying themselves as "white" are Puerto Rican Americans, and Cuban Americans are the third largest; these three U.S Hispanic groups by national origin compose the overwhelming majority of Hispanic and Latino Americans self-identifying as "white" in the US census.

White Hispanics by National Origin, 2000
Hispanic Origin Group	White Population	Percentage
Mexican	9,870,433	47.3
Puerto Rican	1,605,049	47.2
Cuban	1,060,854	85.0
Dominican	180,856	22.7
Central American	735,879	40.4
South American	838,270	59.6
"Spanish" and "Other Hispanic"	2,534,786	44.8

Some Hispanic or Latino American groups, such as Mexican Americans and Chilean Americans, predominantly identify as "white", in contrast to the actual racial profiles of their individual countries and the people from these countries that tend to migrate to the United States. For example, the official racial make-up of the population of Mexico is 9% white, 60% mestizo (a mix mainly of indigenous and Spanish), and 30% indigenous, with the people in the upper-class mainly european/white. Most of the immigrants to the United States from Mexico are of the mestizo group, yet half of all Mexican Americans define themselves as "white" in the US census.

Also, countries such as Argentina, Cuba and Puerto Rico are made up of european descent majorities, even though the ancestry in the United States from these countries may not be of european origin.

White Hispanics by State, 2007 ACS
State	Population	% of State	% of Hispanics
California	6,503,487	18	??
Texas	5,398,738	??	??
Florida	2,867,365	16	??
New York	1,161,663	??	??
Arizona	1,113,398	??	??
Illinois	715,315	??	??
New Jersey	660,649	??	??
Colorado	601,488	??	??
New Mexico	530,612	??	??
Nevada	412,985	??	??

Because of the intermarriage between Hispanics and white non-Hispanics, many "white Hispanics" are also of these two ancestries, including some of the people shown in this article. Actual white Hispanic ancestry would by primarily Spanish, ultimately. The largest other white Hispanic ancestries are Italian, German, Portuguese, French, Irish, British, Polish, Lebanese, and Russian.

Representation in the media

White Hispanics are sometimes overlooked by the English-language U.S. mass media, and by general American social perceptions, where being Hispanic is often incorrectly given a racial value, usually non-white.

Since the early days of the movie industry in the U.S., when white Hispanic actors are given roles, they are usually cast as non-Hispanic Whites. Examples include such actors as Jose Ferrer, Benicio Del Toro, Frankie Muniz, Andy Garcia, Joanna García and Cameron Diaz. Most Americans may not be aware that American movie legend Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino) was Hispanic, or that the actress who played "all-American" Gilmore Girl Lorelai Leigh "Rory" Gilmore — Alexis Bledel — is also Hispanic.

Others accuse the U.S. Hispanic media, as well as the Latin American media, of over-representing White Hispanics while under-representing the non-White population, amid claims that telenovelas or soap operas do not reflect the color spectrum of Hispanics and Latinos.

The term Hispanic has historically been misconstrued to refer to race or physical appearance. In general, Hispanics are assumed to have traits such as dark hair and eyes, and tan or brown skin. Many others are viewed as physically intermediate between whites, blacks and/or Amerindians. Even though the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey have taken measures to rectify this, all Hispanics and Latinos are collated into a Census-designated "ethnicity" regardless of individual ethnic backgrounds. As such, Hispanics have also been included in Affirmative Action programs regardless of race or ethnicity.

Political Views

An analysis of almost 3,000 interviews conducted over with national Democratic voters highlights the degree to which Obama has been able to secure the support of black Democrats, while Clinton, his major opponent, has held on to her edge among white and white Hispanic Democratic voters. Over this seven-day period, Clinton also had a substantial lead among white Hispanic voters, 55% to 39%. An analysis of Clinton's support among Hispanic Democratic voters this year shows that while there have been week-to-week fluctuations, she has generally led each week. (White Hispanics comprise about 6% of the national Democratic vote.