Myth: The Hispanic label has always existed
 
 

Little known to most Americans, the term “Hispanic” did not exist until the last thirty years—although its origins remain unclear. In addition, this label for Spanish-surnamed people is never used outside the borders of the United States. It is an American invention.

In 1960 the U.S. Census Bureau undertook a limited sampling of the U.S. population who were described as "white persons of Spanish surname." In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau began fully enumerating people of "Spanish origin or descent" within the United States for the first time. However, the term "Hispanic" was not used to describe this group in the 1970 Census.

The 1980 census used the term Hispanic for the first time. The Census Bureau was scrupulous in noting that Hispanics "may be people of any race." In fact, to make this distinction clear, the Census Bureau has used the term "Non-Hispanic White" instead of simply "White" in all its reports since 1980. This distinction has been almost completely ignored by the media, academia and the corporate sector ever since. Since the 1980 census, the term Hispanic has been continually expanded in common usage until it has come to encompass an incomprehensible mix of nationality, ethnicity and race.

 
The origins of the term "Hispanic"
  It is widely believed the term Hispanic first came into official use during the 1970s by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in an effort to identify and aid a collection of disadvantaged Spanish-speaking communities across Texas and California along with pockets of urban poverty in New York City and Chicago. The communities in Texas and California were primarily of Mexican origin while those in New York and Chicago were predominantly Puerto Rican. The communities' common denominators were the Spanish language and impoverishment. In phenotype, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are typically quite distinct. This well-meaning attempt to aid a group of disadvantaged "Hispanic communities" has morphed into a de facto racial label that has come to encompass all Spanish surnamed people in the United States.  
America 's favorite interracial couple?
    An example of our racial revisionism is Cuban entertainer Desi Arnaz, who today is portrayed in a number of circles as a "person of color." In hindsight, this is a curious label. Arnaz was very publicly married to Lucille Ball in the 1950s, an era when segregated drinking fountains and restrooms for Colored and White were common in many parts of the United States. If indeed Arnaz was a "person of color," then an interracial couple starred in the nation's most popular sitcom during that era. Even more surprising, scarcely an eyebrow was raised by the flouting of their evident miscegenation during Lucy's televised pregnancy. Was the U.S. mainstream really so tolerant during the 1950s? Or has our concept of "race" changed when it comes to people from Latin America? (Let's face it. Take away the accent and the Spanish name and Arnaz is indistinguishable from countless other white guys on television.) One thing is certain. The portrayal of Hispanics on television today reveals a clear pattern of racial typecasting.
 
In 1751, Ben Franklin complains of non-whites overrunning the country
  America's uncertainty between nationality and race is not new. Our nation's history shows that race is nebulous concept that has changed over time. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin published Observations Concerning The Increase of Mankind, a screed in which he assailed a group of non-white outsiders with tawny complexions who clung to their native language and were reluctant to accept English ways. He was referring to the German immigrants of Pennsylvania.    
 

During the nineteenth century, Jews and the Irish were considered separate races by many in the United States. Both groups eventually fell under the umbrella category of White as new immigrant groups arrived to claim the mantle of outsiders. One conclusion: In the United States, White is as much a marker of assimilation into the mainstream culture as it is a racial designation. In fact, some demographers have predicted that, like Jews and the Irish, Hispanics will one day lose their blanket designation as a minority and return to being identified by their country of origin. “If today’s immigrants assimilate into the American stream as readily as their predecessors did at the turn of the century, there will not be any minority-majority issue,” states Stephan Thernstrom, Professor of History at Harvard University.

 

Other myths surrounding the Hispanic label:

MYTH: The Hispanic label is harmless

MYTH: Hispanics are portrayed accurately on TV

MYTH: The U.S. was the hemisphere's only melting pot

MYTH: Most of the New World's slaves came to the U.S.

MYTH: Hispanics are a single race

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