HISPANIC POPULATION MYTH

By Kurly Tlapoyawa, 2000

For years now, so-called demographic experts have been telling us that Hispanics are the
fastest growing minority group in the United States, with an estimated population of
around 31 million people. Whether this ridiculously overblown estimate is part of a
calculated misinformation campaign or merely the result of ignorance on the part of
demographers is beside the point - because it is utterly and completely wrong.
When the enlightened folks at the census bureau decided that it was their right to
label (or more accurately, mislabel) people according to ethnic heritage they instituted a
practice which many in the Indigenous (Native American) community refer to as
demographic genocide. This is the act of erasing entire ethnic groups by simply defining
them out of existence. Sound a little farfetched?
Consider this - with a mere stroke of the pen, government bureaucrats have
managed to demographically eliminate more Indigenous people than even the
conquistadorks themselves. While the tactics employed by the census bureau certainly
differ from those of the Spaniards, the end result remains the same. And if you happen to
be of Native blood, there is something truly sinister about a government agency telling
you that your people no longer exist by re-defining you as white (Hispanic is a word
which describes white Europeans who trace their roots to Spain).
If we take the supposed 31 million Hispanics and bother to classify these
individuals in regards to their true ethnic ancestry, heritage and culture, we would find
that it is the Indigenous community, NOT Hispanics who carry the greater numbers. A
little simple mathematics will bear this out: Xikano-Mexikanos comprise 65% of the
alleged 31 million Hispanics, yet the ethnic background and cultural heritage of XikanoMexikanos is overwhelmingly Indigenous and most definitely not Hispanic. Our
people are the Mexika, Maya, Chontal, Mixteka, Otomi, Raramuri, Totonak, Yaqui,
Apache, etc., and we deserve to be recognized and respected for who we are.

This essay was originally published online in the year 2000 at www.mexika.org. For more on this topic
see Jack D. Forbes's article, New Census Rules Effect All Persons of Pre-Columbian American Ancestry,
originally published in his blog Native Intelligence in 2000, and later reproduced in Mixed Race America
and the Law: A Reader, ed. Kevin R. Johnson (NYU Press, 2003), 22829.

In fact, 85-90% of the Mexican population is of Native blood (the word

Mexican itself is Indigenous - not Spanish). If we account for this, the Hispanic
population drops considerably, while the Indigenous population rises by around 17
MILLION people. And If we add to this number the 2.4 million American Indians
already identified as living within the United States, the Indigenous population soars to
nearly 20 million people. Now THAT is a powerful population base - and a reality the
census bureau would rather ignore.
Keep in mind this isnt even taking into account the countless Central and South
Americans who have been unjustly mislabeled as Hispanics. Nor is it considering the
many Blacks and Asians who are being misrepresented by the Hispanic label as well. If
we take all of these factors into consideration, I would venture to guess that the actual
Hispanic population in the United States is far less than 2 Million people - if even that.
In an attempt to counter the destructive practice of demographic genocide,
Indigenous scholar and UC Davis professor Dr. Jack D. Forbes has recently called upon
Xikano-Mexikanos and Central Americans to identify themselves as Native people on all
future government documents - including the census. By doing so, Native people can
reclaim the right of self-identification and proclaim to the world that our people are still
very much alive. If Xikano-Mexikanos and Central Americans wish to be involved in a
struggle which truly reflects our cultural heritage and values, we should unite ourselves
with other Indigenous nations rather than seek acceptance through the assimilation
oriented Hispanic cause with its hollow goals and promises.
By remaining silent and allowing a group of pencil pushing bureaucrats to wipe
us out by defining our very existence in effect accomplishing what the Spaniards
couldnt do in over 300 years of slavery, rape, and genocide we dishonor our ancestors
who bravely resisted European imperialism. Ancestors such as Kuauhtemok, Pop,
Tupak Amaru, Koatlawak, Zapata and the many other warriors who fought and died so
that our people would never have to submit so that we would never have to call
ourselves Hispanic. And at a time when violence against Xikano-Mexikanos is running
rampant, with law enforcement agencies and private citizens taking turns hunting our
people down like animals along the border, we need to remember who we are and where
we come from. So stand up and say it loudIm brown and Im proud!