[Elsiejay]

“First the media said Zimmerman was white, and it turns out he’s actually Hispanic.”

Just wondering: How did “Hispanic” become a race? It does not even describe a specific national cultural identity. Central American natives of “Indian” stock, for want of a better term, having somehow acquired Spanish surnames absent any bloodline link to Spain, are placed within the group called Hispanic.

[Political Junkie Too]

Just wondering: How did “Hispanic” become a race?

Nixon added it to the census in 1970.

-PJ

[vicar7]

Zimmerman is as white as Obama is white but we would not call Obama a white African American would we?

[PowderMonkey]

"Just wondering: How did “Hispanic” become a race?"

Thank the federal government for that. One of my associates is labeled "Hispanic" because he's originally from Uruguay. His parents immigrated there from Italy. He's proudly Italian. Not a drop of Hispanic blood in him. Federal regs allow his children to be labeled "Hispanic" even though they have no connection to Uruguay.