Categorizing race among Hispanic smokers.

The convergence of two developments — the mapping of the human genome and the preponderance of evidence for profound racial and ethnic disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality — has reinvigorated discussion regarding the scientific usefulness and meaning of the construct of race. Race is typically assessed via an individual’s self-report. The accuracy of self-reported race is considered important because it is often used as a marker for genetic predispositions and/or culture, factors that have critical implications for cancer prevention and control. However, some scientists have argued that race as a scientific construct fails because it is not genetically discrete or reliably measured.1 The purpose of our study was to examine self-reported race among Spanish-speaking smokers who were of low socioeconomic status. The Hispanic population is currently the largest minority group in the United States and is projected to comprise 25% of the population by 2050.2-6 Hispanics are a heterogeneous group that includes people from Mexico, Central and South America, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Spain. The categorization of Hispanics into racial and ethnic categories has been revised several times during the last century, largely due to social and political factors. In 1930, the Census listed “Mexican”under the race category.7 In 1940, the Census changed to listing people of Mexican descent under the “White” racial category.8 Slight changes occurred in 1960 when standardized instructions required that all people of Latin American descent be categorized as “White” unless they were subjectively perceived as being of another race.9 In 1977 the Office of Management and Budget issued Statistical Policy Directive Number 15, “Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting.” These standards underwent revisions in 1997 requiring that all federal agencies categorize race as: American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White.10 Ethnicity was defined as Hispanic origin or non-Hispanic origin.11 Instead of allowing a multiracial category as was originally suggested, the 2000 Census allowed respondents to report more than one race.10,12 In addition, the question about racial origin was deliberately preceded by the question on Hispanic origin. Studies indicated that placing the question of Hispanic origin before race significantly reduced missing data for the Hispanic origin question.7 Our study examined self-categorization into racial categories among Hispanics of low socioeconomic status who enrolled in a population-based smoking cessation study. We were interested in whether self-reported categorization into racial categories in this population might be difficult because of the historical blurring of race and ethnicity among Hispanics, and because individuals at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum might have less experience in making such distinctions.