question: Why is "hispanic/latino" the only ethnicity on forms in the US?
comment: Race and ethnicity refer to two different things. Race is about physical characteristics like skin color, and ethnicity refers to cultural differences. Hispanic just means Spanish-speaking, and Latino/Latina refers to what country you’re from. You could be, for instance, Mexican and black. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
passages: The federal government of the United States has mandated that "in data collection and presentation, federal agencies are required to use a minimum of two ethnicities: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino". The Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race." For discussion of the meaning and scope of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, see the Hispanic and Latino Americans and Racial and ethnic demographics of the United States articles.
   Section::::Brief overview of race and ethnicity in the US Census's history.:21st century.:2010 Census.
  
  The 2010 US Census included changes designed to more clearly distinguish Hispanic ethnicity as not being a race. That included adding the sentence: "For this census, Hispanic origins are not races." Additionally, the Hispanic terms were modified from "Hispanic or Latino" to "Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin".
   Because of the technical distinctions involved in defining "race" vs. "ethnicity," there is confusion among the general population about the designation of Hispanic identity. Currently, the United States Census Bureau defines six race categories:
  
  BULLET::::- White or Caucasian
  
  BULLET::::- Black or African American
  
  BULLET::::- American Indian or Alaska Native
  
  BULLET::::- Asian
  
  BULLET::::- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
  
  BULLET::::- Some Other Race
   Until the 2000 census, Latinos were required to identify as one race, and none was Latino. Partly as a result of the confusion generated by the distinction, 32.9% (U.S. census records) of Latino respondents in the 2000 census ignored the specified racial categories and checked "some other race". (Mays "et al." 2003 claim a figure of 42%)
  
  Historical trends influencing the ethnic demographics of the United States include:
  
  BULLET::::- Patterns of original settlement
  
  BULLET::::- settlement of the Americas by a variety of Native American peoples, including Alaska Natives.
   The question on Hispanic or Latino origin is separate from the question on race. Hispanic and Latino Americans have ethnic origins in the countries of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Latin American countries are, like the United States, racially diverse. Consequently, no separate racial category exists for Hispanic and Latino Americans, as they do not constitute a race, nor a national group. When responding to the race question on the census form, each person is asked to choose from among the same racial categories as all Americans, and are included in the numbers reported for those races.
   Use of the word "ethnicity" for Hispanics only is considerably more restricted than its conventional meaning, which covers other distinctions, some of which are covered by the "race" and "ancestry" questions. The distinct questions accommodate the possibility of Hispanic and Latino Americans' also declaring various racial identities (see also White Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Black Hispanic and Latino Americans).
  
  In the 2000 Census, 12.5% of the US population reported "Hispanic or Latino" ethnicity and 87.5% reported "Not-Hispanic or Latino" ethnicity.
  
  Section::::Brief overview of race and ethnicity in the US Census's history.:21st century.
   In the 2010 United States Census, 50.5 million Americans (16.3% of the total population) listed themselves as ethnically Hispanic or Latino. Of those, 53.0% (26.7 million) self-identified as racially white. The remaining respondents listed their races as: some other race 36.7%, two or more races (multiracial) 6.0%, Black or African American 2.5%, American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%, Asian 0.4%, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1%.
   The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse "ethnicity" that comprises the largest minority group in the nation.
  
  Section::::Racial and ethnic groups.:White and European Americans.
   Each racial category may contain Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Americans. For example: the White or European-American race category contains Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites (see White Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Black or African-American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks (see Black Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Asian-American category contains Non-Hispanic Asians and Hispanic Asians (see Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans); and likewise for all the other categories. See the section on Hispanic and Latino Americans in this article.
   Race and ethnicity are considered separate and distinct identities, with Hispanic or Latino origin asked as a separate question. Thus, in addition to their race or races, all respondents are categorized by membership in one of two ethnic categories, which are "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino". However, the practice of separating "race" and "ethnicity" as different categories has been criticized both by the American Anthropological Association and members of US Commission on Civil Rights.
   The term "Hispanic" as an ethnonym emerged in the 20th century, with the rise of migration of laborers from Spanish-speaking countries of the western hemisphere to the United States. It includes people who may have been considered racially distinct (Black, White, Amerindian or other mixed groups) in their home countries. Today, the word "Latino" is often used as a synonym for "Hispanic". Even if such categories were earlier understood as racial categories, today they have begun to represent ethno-linguistic categories (regardless of perceived race). Similarly, "Anglo" is now used among many Hispanics to refer to non-Hispanic White Americans or European Americans, most of whom speak the English language but are not of primarily English descent.
   Section::::Notable contributions.:Government and politics.
  
  As of 2007, there were more than five thousand elected officeholders in the United States who were of Latino origin.
   Each person has two identifying attributes, racial identity and whether or not they are of Hispanic ethnicity. These categories are sociopolitical constructs and should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature. They have been changed from one census to another, and the racial categories include both "racial" and national-origin groups.
  
  In 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US Department of Labor finalized the update of its EEO-1 report format and guidelines concerning the definitions of racial/ethnic categories.
  
  Section::::Racial and ethnic categories.:Census Designated Ethnicities: Hispanic or Latino origin.
   Section::::Racial makeup of the U.S. population.:Race chart.
  
  In 2008, "Hispanic or Latino origin" was the self-identification of 47 million Americans. They chiefly have origins in the Spanish-speaking nations of Latin America. Very few also come from other places, for example: 0.2% of Hispanic and Latino Americans were born in Asia. The group is heterogeneous in race and national ancestry.
  
  The Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino origin" thus:
   These definitions thus arguably do not include Brazilian Americans, especially since the Census Bureau classifies Brazilian Americans as a separate ancestry group from "Hispanic or Latino". A surge of Portuguese-Americans faced a big scare when the Census Bureau revealed plans to categorize people of Portuguese descent as "Hispanics" in the 2020 National Census. The unified feelings of dispute were displayed in a national survey conducted by Palcus within the Portuguese-American community. The results were an overwhelming 90% of participants objecting to Portuguese-Americans being classified under the Hispanic ethnicity.
   The United States is one of the countries that uses racial and ethnic census data in order to create minority-majority districts, as is required by the 1965 Voting Rights Act. These districts were created in order to increase minority representation in the United States Congress following the end of legal segregation and racial discrimination in the Southern United States.
   Neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino" refers to a race, as a person of Latino/Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race. Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be of any race or combination of races: White American / Caucasian, Black / African American, Asian American, Native American / Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander American, or two or more ethnicities. While Brazilian Americans are not included with Hispanics and Latinos in the government's census population reports, any Brazilian American can report as being Hispanic or Latino since Hispanic or Latino origin is, like race or ethnicity, a matter of self-identification.
   Previously, Hispanic and Latino Americans were categorized as "Spanish-Americans", "Spanish-speaking Americans", or "Spanish-surnamed Americans". However:
   Other federal and local government agencies and non-profit organizations include Brazilians and Portuguese in their definition of "Hispanic". The U.S. Department of Transportation defines "Hispanic Americans" as, "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race". This definition has been adopted by the Small Business Administration as well as by many federal, state, and municipal agencies for the purposes of awarding government contracts to minority owned businesses. 
   The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines "Hispanic or Latino" as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. People who identify with the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” are those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the decennial census questionnaire and various Census Bureau survey questionnaires – “Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano” or ”Puerto Rican” or “Cuban” – as well as those who indicate that they are “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.” People who identify their origin as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
   White Americans are therefore referenced as "white Hispanics" and "non-Hispanic whites", the former consisting of white Americans who report Hispanophone identity (Spanish Hispanic Latin America), and the latter consisting of white Americans who do not report Hispanophone ancestry.
  
  As of 2010, 50.5 million or 16.3% of Americans identified as Hispanic or Latino. Of those, 26.7 million, or 53%, also self-identified as white.
  
  Section::::History.
   BULLET::::- Adriano Espaillat – member of the United States House of Representatives
  
  BULLET::::- Rafael Espinal – politician who won the open 54th district seat in the New York State Assembly in a special election held on September 13, 2011
  
  BULLET::::- Julissa Ferreras – Democratic member of the New York City Council
  
  BULLET::::- Frances Garcia – former mayor of Hutchinson, Kansas
  
  BULLET::::- Norma García – former mayor of Mercedes, Texas and Hidalgo County treasurer
  
  BULLET::::- William Lantigua – politician in Massachusetts, Dominican born and raised
  
  BULLET::::- Guillermo Linares – Dominican Democratic member of the New York State Assembly
   Section::::Historical trends and influences.
  
  The United States is a racially diverse country. The growth of the Hispanic population through immigration and high birth rates is noted as a partial factor for the US' population gains in the last quarter-century. The 2000 census revealed that Native Americans had reached their highest documented population, 4.5 million, since the US was founded in 1776.
   For certain purposes, respondents who wrote in "Chicano" or "Mexican" (or indeed, almost all Hispanic origin groups) in the "Some other race" category were automatically re-classified into the "White race" group.
  
  Section::::Race and ethnicity.:Politics and debate of racial classification.
   Other federal and local government agencies and non-profit organizations include Brazilians and Portuguese in their definition of "Hispanic:. The US Department of Transportation defines "Hispanic" as "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or others [of] Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race." This definition has been adopted by the Small Business Administration as well as by many federal, state, and municipal agencies for the purposes of awarding government contracts to minority-owned businesses.
  
raw_presuppositions: There should be more ethnicity options on the forms in the US.
raw_corrections: Race is different than ethnicity. Ethnicity is more of a culture thing. 