What box does Sean go in?

The Census Bureau just called even though I sent in my form. “Is this the Lindsay-Cramer-Thomas-Vestal household” they asked. Perhaps they thought it was a boarding house. They wanted to make sure no one had been counted twice. They went through each person individually and asked if that person had perhaps been in jail on April 1. “No” I answered, “not even Grandma or Sean.” Were any of us in a halfway house, mental institution, domestic violence shelter or drug rehab center on April 1? “No” I answered, “not even Grandma or Sean.”


Next they started asking about Sean. What is his race? “His mom is Hispanic and his dad is white.” “What is his race?” She asks again. “His mom is Hispanic and his dad is white” I say again. She then reads me a list that does not include Hispanic and white and ask me again “what is his race?” This is getting tedious. “His mom is Hispanic and his dad is white.” “You can say white and other” she says. Ok, fine he’s white and other.” I wonder what President Obama is? Is he white and other? In reality Sean is white, Hispanic and black. Oh wait, he’s white and other, how quickly I forget.

After we get race settled she asks if Sean is related to us. “No.” She paused, “what is his relationship?” “We are his legal guardians.” At that point she puts me on hold. She didn’t have any more questions when she came back.
My take away from this call is that you can’t put Sean in a box. Oh wait, yes you can, Sean likes boxes I guess the Census just doesn’t have the right kind.

One "white" kid and one "white" kid and "other" in a box.

And the answer to why is..... Hispanic is not a race it is an ethniticity.
Kylie told me today her mom is brown like chocolate milk. Chocolate milk is not a race either. I guess he is not  mixed milk either is just "other, .

  Hispanic is not a race it's an ethniticity.Which makes what Sean is confusing. Is he in fact Indian because many Mexicans origins are Indian? His mom is very dark skinned, so is he really black and white?

2010 Census

The 2010 US Census includes changes designed to more clearly distinguish Hispanic ethnicity as not being a race. That includes adding the sentence: "For this census, Hispanic origins are not races."[13][14] Additionally, the Hispanic terms are modified from "Hispanic or Latino" to "Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin".[13][14]

Although used in the Census and the American Community Survey, "Some other race" is not an official race,[10] and the Bureau considered eliminating it prior to the 2010 census.[15] As the 2010 census form does not contain the question titled "Ancestry" found in recent censuses, there are campaigns to get non-Hispanic West Indian Americans and Arab Americans to indicate their ethnic or national background through the race question, specifically the "Some other race" category.[16][17][18]

Thanks census lady. Because of you I learned something new.