That must be it. Problem is hispanic is used to refer to anyone who has an origin in a Spanish-speaking country, I believe. It has nothing to do with race. I’m not clear on how a grandchild of a Mexican immigrant who didn’t speak Spanish would be classified. And I assume someone of Irish descent who learned how to speak Spanish would NOT be Hispanic?
If “Hispanic” has any useful meaning, it must mean a connection to the Spanish language, either as a native speaker or as the near-descendant of native speakers. Native speakers of Spanish include Europeans, blacks, American natives, Asians, and Middle Easterners.
Using “Hispanic” as a “race” is as dumb as saying “Moslem” or “illegal immigrant” is a “race.”
And no, a person who learns Spanish does not become “Hispanic” by that fact :-).
It would be so much better if we could all just be “human race.”