Harrop: Time to drop America’s obsession with racial identity

Complicating matters, Latino immigrants are often of mixed heritage the day they arrive. Why then can’t we stop this racial counting as the French have done? If we must lump people into categories, let’s stick with ethnicity, defined as a common cultural tradition.

Nebraskans of Czech heritage still bake kolaches for old time’s sake. Italian Americans in New Jersey serve lasagna. Likewise, American-born Latinos may make fajitas if their forebears came from Mexico, or, if the Philippines was the country of origin, adobo.

In any case, “foreign” foods don’t stay foreign here for long. Tacos now vie with hamburgers and pizza as American staples.

The Census report was predictably turned into a discussion of immigration, but even here, the numbers lead to imperfect conclusions. Historically, Mexican Americans are the only group that started their American citizenry not because they immigrated but because the border moved to include them.

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo turned over California and much of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Colorado to the United States. It set the border with Texas at the Rio Grande. In 1854, the Gadsden Purchase enabled the U.S. to acquire another 30,000 square miles of Mexico, roughly the size of Scotland.

This is in no way an endorsement of the Reconquista, a radical movement that seeks to return parts of the American Southwest to Mexico. The border is where it now is, and we should want an immigration program that is humane but also respects the law. I’m just saying that Latinos are hardly “newcomers” to the scene.

It’s obvious that children of today’s immigrants who work, speak English and pay rent are more like the children of past immigration waves than different. Many Latinos may be browner than Americans with roots in Europe, but so what? Americans whose forebears came from southern Europe tend to be darker than those of northern European stock.

The Census also reports a doubling of the Asian American population. Many in this group have deep roots in North America, but the recent influx of Asian immigrants is producing children who melt right in.

As the generations progress, who knows how many racial mixes will be reported to the Census Bureau? But that’s if they’re still asking the same questions. America was founded as an idea, not on the basis of DNA. As long as Americans believe in the democratic ideal, their pigmentation should not matter.

Thus, we should urge both the left wing and the right wing to drop their obsession with racial identity. Start by x-ing out a few items on future Census questionnaires. As for “Latino,” let’s acknowledge that it’s a highly flawed descriptor.