Correct way to address Hispanics and blacks?

[westsidestoryz]

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For my secondary essays, would it be okay to address groups as Hispanics, blacks, whites or Latin Americans, African Americans, Caucasians.

I searched the forum and it seems like whites, Hispanics, whites, and blacks are fine, but my Grad writing specialist preferred Latin Americans and African Americans....

 

[DrYuke]

I've always felt it's best to say Latin Americans, African Americans, etc.

 

[LizzyM]

Some Blacks are African-Americans but some Blacks are not. (There are Blacks in countries other than the USA.)
Not all Hispanics are Latin Americans. Filipinos may identify as Hispanic given that they were colonized by Spain just as parts of Central and South America were, and at about the same time. They also remained under Spanish rule longer than some countries in South America.

 

[BigBoss]

No one cares. PC culture is making people way too soft.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jessica Day]

I would use “Black people” “White people” etc. African-American always sounds forced to me.

 

[KD6-3.7]

To me, "Black" is the best word. People from Papua New Guinea or other parts of Melanesia may look and be classified as Black here in the United States, for example, but they are not African. African-American refers to a specific group of people (Black people of African descent who have lived in the United States for generations). White is fine too. I don't think you need to be more specific than that. I like the term "Spanish-speaking" as well. But honestly I don't think anyone will be offended as long as you're speaking respectfully.

 

[OchemOficionado]

I don’t think matters. You’re likely speaking of a group you’ve worked or have been in service towards so I don’t think a reader would nit pick or think they knew better about the specific group you’re referring to. I believe Black should be capitalized.

To me, "Black" is the best word. People from Papua New Guinea or other parts of Melanesia may look and be classified as Black here in the United States, for example, but they are not African.

The people in your example would be as African as the African Americans in your example, no? Both are of African descent.

 

[westsidestoryz]

So Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. Sounds good to me. Keeps my character count low too lol

 

[Kingsmen2018]

List of ethnic slurs - Wikipedia

 

[KD6-3.7]

The people in your example would be as African as the African Americans in your example, no? Both are of African descent.

You mean Melanesians? Unless you mean in the general way that all human beings are descended from ancestors in Africa, then no, they are not any more African than, say, Asians or Europeans. Evidence suggests they are removed from Africa by at least 50,000 years. So I would not call them African.

 

[doc05]

How about not writing about race? It's trite.

 

[westsidestoryz]

How about not writing about race? It's trite.

Not really writing about race. Writing about medically underserved communities who happen to be Mexican and Black

 

[stubblesmcgee]

Most ppl I know prefer to be referred to as Latino/a rather than Hispanic, but idk what adcoms would prefer.

 

[trobinsonmd]

For my secondary essays, would it be okay to address groups as Hispanics, blacks, whites or Latin Americans, African Americans, Caucasians.

I searched the forum and it seems like whites, Hispanics, whites, and blacks are fine, but my Grad writing specialist preferred Latin Americans and African Americans....

Latin American is more inclusive than Hispanic... Hispanic does not include Brazilians and other people that are not of Spanish speaking origin... I would try to use vernacular that is more inclusive

 

[westsidestoryz]

Latin American is more inclusive than Hispanic... Hispanic does not include Brazilians and other people that are not of Spanish speaking origin... I would try to use vernacular that is more inclusive

So...Blacks and Latin Americans

 

[LizzyM]

Not really writing about race. Writing about medically underserved communities who happen to be Mexican and Black

why not say, "Mexican and Black"??

 

[OchemOficionado]

You mean Melanesians? Unless you mean in the general way that all human beings are descended from ancestors in Africa, then no, they are not any more African than, say, Asians or Europeans. Evidence suggests they are removed from Africa by at least 50,000 years. So I would not call them African.

WHAT? No, haha, not in a general way. Have you been there or at least seen photos of the people of Melanesia? There are difference ethnic groups of course, but the African ancestry is clear in many from their phenotype. The same goes for the aboriginals of Australia. It’s the same African ancestry of African Americans, just more distant. Doesn’t change their ancestry and definitely not comparable to Europeans.

 

[Medic741]

Not really writing about race. Writing about medically underserved communities who happen to be Mexican and Black

Dude... careful... you can absolutely talk about underserved communities without racial labels. If you do say black/Mexican be very careful that you’re not insulting that group.

 

[lavender_stingray]

You should use people centered language whenever possible ex: Black people instead of “blacks.” Black is an adjective and not a noun. When it is used as a noun, it makes it sounds as though race is the only part of that person’s identity that you recognize. I also suggest using Latino instead of Latin American, as the latter is mostly used to describe someone currently living in Latin America. “People of color” is a great descriptor that would help you save on word count after you initially describe the populations

 

[westsidestoryz]

So basically, when I am describing said individuals, Black people, Latinos, White people, Asians are all correct and acceptable for my essays? Dont want to nitpick the terms, just want to describe it once and refer to them as patients, communities, or individuals thereafter.

 

[mdphdNYC]

A question that I'm surprised hasn't really been asked in this thread is, what is your objective in using these terms?
(1) If you are talking about your own community - totally fine. Use whatever term you identify with - you can't really go wrong here
(2) If you are talking about other communities - be careful not to reduce entire groups to simplistic characterizations like "Black people/Mexicans/Asians lack healthcare." While it's important not to erase these realities, it can sound insincere at best and disingenuous or patronizing, especially if you are not writing from personal experience but in an abstract generality. If you have worked with a medically underserved population, try to keep anything you write grounded in what you've actually observed as much as possible. This means using the terms the people you were working with would use for themselves (black vs African American? Latino vs Hispanic?) and anchoring yourself to a concrete time and place - so "The Chicano community in San Diego" is usually better than "Mexicans in the US"

 

[LemonTreeAKALemon]

WHAT? No, haha, not in a general way. Have you been there or at least seen photos of the people of Melanesia? There are difference ethnic groups of course, but the African ancestry is clear in many from their phenotype. The same goes for the aboriginals of Australia. It’s the same African ancestry of African Americans, just more distant. Doesn’t change their ancestry and definitely not comparable to Europeans.

Lol. You are very wrong. The Australian Aboriginals, along with the melanasians, and other peoples of that region, are genetically very distant from Africans. As a matter of fact, Europeans and Africans are more genetically similar than Europeans and Australian Aboriginals.

Its convergent evolution.

 

[westsidestoryz]

A question that I'm surprised hasn't really been asked in this thread is, what is your objective in using these terms?
(1) If you are talking about your own community - totally fine. Use whatever term you identify with - you can't really go wrong here
(2) If you are talking about other communities - be careful not to reduce entire groups to simplistic characterizations like "Black people/Mexicans/Asians lack healthcare." While it's important not to erase these realities, it can sound insincere at best and disingenuous or patronizing, especially if you are not writing from personal experience but in an abstract generality. If you have worked with a medically underserved population, try to keep anything you write grounded in what you've actually observed as much as possible. This means using the terms the people you were working with would use for themselves (black vs African American? Latino vs Hispanic?) and anchoring yourself to a concrete time and place - so "The Chicano community in San Diego" is usually better than "Mexicans in the US"

Good points. I work in rural Mexico so for that experience, so the proper term would be Mexicans
For the soup kitchen in CA, I can use Black people and Latinos?

 

[mdphdNYC]

Good points. I work in rural Mexico so for that experience, so the proper term would be Mexicans
For the soup kitchen in CA, I can use Black people and Latinos?

I don't see anything wrong with the terms themselves, but again, what are you trying to accomplish? Forgive me if I'm wrong but the general tone of this thread sounds like you're trying to score points by name-dropping minority communities which is unlikely to go over well and could come across as tone deaf. For your experiences, just talk about the people you were serving without focusing too much on their racial background or speculating about whether they don't have access to healthcare because they're black/Latinx/etc. It's OK to include a line recognizing systematic disparities but unless there's a compelling reason to make race the focus of your essay, I would not talk about it any more than that

 

[westsidestoryz]

I don't see anything wrong with the terms themselves, but again, what are you trying to accomplish? Forgive me if I'm wrong but the general tone of this thread sounds like you're trying to score points by name-dropping minority communities which is unlikely to go over well and could come across as tone deaf. For your experiences, just talk about the people you were serving without focusing too much on their racial background or speculating about whether they don't have access to healthcare because they're black/Latinx/etc. It's OK to include a line recognizing systematic disparities but unless there's a compelling reason to make race the focus of your essay, I would not talk about it any more than that

Another excellent perspective. But just to clarify, the race portion is one sentence so I dont think I am focusing on it. I just wanted to get the proper terms to use.
I was going to talk about the systematic disparities you mentioned, but then again, would it be weird if I just assume the disparities are there because they are minorities? Its no secret that Blacks and Hispanics are receiving different care than Whites (MCAT loves those questions) but I am not sure if I should just outright say it.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Lol. You are very wrong. The Australian Aboriginals, along with the melanasians, and other peoples of thay region, are genetically very distant from Africans. As a matter of fact, Europeans and Africans are more genetically similar than Europeans and Australian Aboriginals.

Its called convergent evolution.

I am wrong. I think, lol. I’m reading about it now and it’s fascinating. Thank you!

*Edit* I’m still going to claim them though 🤣I can’t help it! When I see them I see me!

 

[Chocolate Sundae]

For my secondary essays, would it be okay to address groups as Hispanics, blacks, whites or Latin Americans, African Americans, Caucasians.

I searched the forum and it seems like whites, Hispanics, whites, and blacks are fine, but my Grad writing specialist preferred Latin Americans and African Americans....

Black is an adjective, not a noun. He’s not a black, he’s a black person. Say black people.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Not really writing about race. Writing about medically underserved communities who happen to be Mexican and Black

Are the people in it both black and Mexican? Or are some black and others Mexican? If it’s the former Afro-Mexican or Afromexicanos are acceptable and accurate terms

 

[Lucca]

Can they really identify as Hispanic in their apps? Does that mean they’re also URM?

They might but also URM definitions are a little more subtle than that. Read through the AAMC’s “Diversity in Medical Education” 2016 report.

 

[Lucca]

OP i would use:

Black people
Hispanic people
Asian people
People of color
Communities of color

 

[Robin-jay]

OP i would use:

Black people
Hispanic people
Asian people
People of color
Communities of color

I always thought African-American was way more politically correct than "Black". Is this not true?

 

[Lucca]

I always thought African-American was way more politically correct than "Black". Is this not true?

LizzyM clarified above why that is not always necessarily the case. It could be more appropriate to use African American when referring to a specific community. As another poster said, ethnicities are adjectives and not nouns.

 

[LizzyM]

Question is, would adcoms not view that as a misrepresentation? Filipinos as Hispanics, I mean.

The U.S. Census Bureau:
"Hispanic origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before arriving in the United States. People who identify as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race."
Hispanic Origin

The Spanish ruled the Philippines from 1521 to 1898. The Spanish ruled Mexico from 1521 to 1821.

If a Filipino identifies as being of Spanish heritage, given more than 300 years of Spanish colonialism, are you saying that is a misrepresentation?

 

[LemonTreeAKALemon]

The U.S. Census Bureau:
"Hispanic origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before arriving in the United States. People who identify as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race."
Hispanic Origin

The Spanish ruled the Philippines from 1521 to 1898. The Spanish ruled Mexico from 1521 to 1821.

If a Filipino identifies as being of Spanish heritage, given more than 300 years of Spanish colonialism, are you saying that is a misrepresentation?

I would imagine that this would only apply to a small percentage of Filipinos; namely, the very small portion of Filipinos that have significant Spanish ancestry and/or Filipinos that speak Spanish or Chavacano (a Spanish-creole language). Although the Philippines were under Spanish rule for much longer, many less Spaniards settled in the Philippines, which significantly decreased the influence of Spanish culture in the Philippines. Outside of religion, there were hardly any other transmissions of culture. Filipinos have maintained a hold on their traditions, language, food, etc. Moreover, the Spanish admixture among Filipinos is less than 5% whereas Spanish admixture in Latin America is much greater, from over 50% among Mexican Americans to over 90% in countries like Argentina and Uruguay.

 

[Osminog]

Black is an adjective, not a noun. He’s not a black, he’s a black person. Say black people.

Merriam-Webster apparently hasn't yet caught up with your enlightened PCness.

 

[HarmonicConvergence]

I've always disliked being called African American. I, nor my parents, nor my grandparents or great grandparents have ever been to Africa. I prefer black (black people or black person). No one calls white people, "European American" unless they're immigrants. Most of us prefer to just be Americans who happen to be black.

 

[LizzyM]

That’s a great point. I won’t argue with that. Would all adcoms view it as such though? Because from the same site, it says:

“Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, The Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes people who indicated their race(s) as “Asian” or reported entries such as ..... ‘Filipino’...

Given light to this information, would a Filipino applicant identifying as Hispanic not raise any red flags?

Hispanics may be of any race. So no, self identifying as Asian (Filipino) and Hispanic would be accurate. It might not get you classified by an adcom as URM but it is not inaccurate if it is how you self-identify on Census records, etc.

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

Thank God someone posted this I need one of my own questions answered.
What about Sesame Street characters?!?!? I'm writing about blue characters and purple characters, but I know that purple ones are created from blue ones and red ones. Do I need to mention that the purple ones are also red ones? Do I need to list the percentage? What about black ones? OMG I've been calling them "characters" and "ones" are they actors, monsters, aliens?!?!? And what of their GENDER...

 

[gyngyn]

If I may add, in AMCAS, there is also a box for Filipinos under Asians.

May I also request your thoughts on this @gyngyn @Goro @gonnif

All the Filipinos I know identify as Asian.

 

[prairiemusic]

Merriam-Webster apparently hasn't yet caught up with your enlightened PCness.

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I mean you could listen to the dictionary or you could listen to actual black people about what we prefer... "blacks" especially is more often than not used in a derogatory manner and makes many of us uncomfortable. I don't really object to African American as it is accurate, but I prefer black.

OP, I'm not sure why you need to mention race based on what you've said here. The phrase "underserved communities of color" could serve you well.

 

[Hopeful7419]

I always thought African-American was way more politically correct than "Black". Is this not true?

In general it is true.