This thesis examines the various factors that influence how children in
Latino/non-Latino white households are racially and ethnically identified. The question
of multiracial/ethnic identity has come to prominence following the changes made to the
U.S. Census questionnaire beginning with the 2000 survey which allows the option of
more than one racial identifier. However, little research has focused a group which must
still grapple with the complications of identification, namely Latino/non-Latino families.
Latino identity is considered to be an ethnic identification rather than a racial
identification, with ethnic identification still allowing only one option on the census
survey. Thus, these families still must struggle with the decision as to how to identify
their children.
In this study, I use the 2005-2007 3-year sample of the American Community
Survey to examine how various family dynamics and contextual factors can help to
explain what drives the decisions of parents on how to racially and ethnically identify
their children. Specifically, I use both multinomial logistic regression and multilevel
binomial logistic regression to predict the outcome of the child either being identified as Latino (white or other) or non-Latino (white or other). These models incorporate
characteristics of the Latino parent and the non-Latino parent as well as the ethnic
composition of the area in which the family lives.
The findings of this study indicate that certain characteristics of the Latino parent
are most influential in determining how the child is identified. The language that the
Latino parent speaks in the home, the nativity status of the Latino parent, and the ethnic
origin group of the Latino parent are all important factors which influence the decision
behind how to identify the children in the family. If the Latino parent speaks Spanish in
the home, is Mexican in comparison to other Latino groups, and is U.S.-born, the child is
more likely to be identified as Latino. However, influencing factors behind
multiracial/ethnic identity go beyond the household. The percent Latino in the area in
which the family lives also leads to a Latino identification for the child.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-12-8150 |
| Date | 2010 December 1900 |
| Creators | Fox, Amber |
| Contributors | Saenz, Rogelio |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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