Now that 50.01 percent of Denver’s population is non-white, I’m finally a minority.
Frankly, not much has changed in my life. My editor is still Irish-American. My wife, she’s three-fourths Italian-American. My boss is an African-American.
A bunch of hyphenated people roam my world. My kids are so ethnically confused, in fact, I’m not sure there’s enough hyphen space to appropriately describe them.
The white population in Denver was transformed into minority status sometime between 2005 and 2006, according to the latest census data. This census guesstimate also includes illegal immigrants.
Racial breakdowns are as perplexing as they are wasteful. As someone who’s self-identified himself as a Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander on numerous important forms, you can trust me on this. Why? Because the census measure is based on self-identification.
Keeping tabs on racial classification, according to Elizabeth Garner, Colorado’s state demographer, provides government agencies with the information they need to properly allocate funding to targeted programs.
Believe it or not, there have been somewhere between 20-30 thousand surveys done in Colorado over the years that query us on racial and ethnic affiliations. These polls are then combined and used as a base line and plugged into models that miraculously foresee our racial and ethnic future.
We are efficiently categorized. You are permitted to be black, Latino, Asian, white non-Latino, American Indian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Other or a mixed-race category that is opportunely titled “Two or More.”
“This shows that diversity continues to be one of Denver’s great strengths that we embrace and promote,” pandered Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, senior adviser to Mayor John Hickenlooper, the other day. “Diversity contributes to economic and cultural vitality.”
Hard work, innovation and intelligence contribute to economic vitality. On an individual level, race and ethnicity are irrelevant. I mean, now that whites are in the minority, will Denver “promote” white culture – whatever that means? Of course not. It would be silly.
Truth is, many of us have always been a minority in Denver, a city with a long historical tradition of Latino culture. How can we possibly refer to a sixth-generation Latino family as a minority?
“Every 10 years each person is asked to self-report what they are,” explains Garner. “If you or your family have the name Rodriguez, you would have the choice of reporting and then you’d be given a slew of races to choose from. Then what they do, they estimate how that population grows over time. They use a couple of factors, including birth and death rates and age.”
In other words, I can choose my race. And I choose Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
Undoubtedly, although Latinos may soon be the majority around here, most of them would rather be categorized by their accomplishments and beliefs than geographical area of import.
A new study by the William C. Velasquez Institute, a San Antonio-based research group that studies Latino issues, illustrates that Latinos are all over the place in their worldview. Just like every other hyphenated-American group.
So racial censuses should be insulting to all of us. After all, how could the United States government ask us to check off a category called “Two or More” on a questionnaire?
I’m not even sure what that means.
“If you are Hispanic and white, then you would be considered white or Hispanic,” explains Garner. “If you were, however, white and black and you self-identified as white and black, you would be ‘two or more’ …”
Huh? Garner says this new designation is somewhat confusing, especially among Latinos. That’s probably because it would be confusing to any race or ethnic group on Earth.
Now, at the risk of sounding overly dramatic or nationalistic, how about this: Once you’re a citizen of the United States, you become an “American” – sans the hyphen.
Yes, we’re all proud of our cultural heritages. Having the government hyphenate our identity, though, is just un-American.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
