- Author: Vanessa Ashworth and Philippe Rolshausen
Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California Riverside.
Evidence of avocado selection by human hand as far back as 8,000 BC is preserved in archaeological sites in Puebla State, Mexico. At the time of European contact, written records indicate that there already existed three distinct types of avocado, each from a separate geographic center of origin. Today, we refer to them as botanical races, and they represent the “primeval soup” that gave rise to modern avocado cultivars. Here is what we know about the three botanical races of avocado, respectively called (1) the West Indian (formerly known also as the South American), (2) the Guatemalan, and (3) the Mexican (also known as the “criollo”): Each exhibits a characteristic suite of traits that includes differences in leaf chemistry (a distinctive anise scent is found only in Mexican race avocados), peel texture and color, fruit oil content, and sources of tolerance (diseases and salinity). The races were domesticated in separate geographic regions, the “West Indian” race in lowland coastal Mesoamerica (possibly Yucatán), the Guatemalan race in upland Guatemala, and the Mexican race in highland Mexico. The Guatemalan and Mexican races remained fairly local, so their names reflect their respective centers of domestication, but the “West Indian” race seems to have been spread far and wide by indigenous cultures in Meso- and South America and was, incorrectly, named for a much later destination. The explorations of the 15th and 16th centuries kicked off the worldwide distribution of (mostly West Indian race) avocados, reaching Spain in the early 17th century, Jamaica in the mid-17th century, and Indonesia by the mid-18th century. It wasn't until the mid- to late 19th century that the three races of avocado found their way to the United States, primarily Florida and California, where they underwent many rounds of selection and hybridization. ‘Hass', the cornerstone of the California avocado industry, was patented in 1935 but its ancestry is unknown. It is considered to be a Mexican x Guatemalan hybrid because its leaves lack the anise scent and its fruits combine the thick, rough skin of the Guatemalan race but the high oil content of the Mexican race.
- Author: HispanicMarketingandPublicRelations.com by Elena del Valle
The shift may be explained at least in part due to questionnaire design changes, the report indicates. Analysts observed a race response change among American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, people who reported multiple races, and Hispanics who reported a race. The researchers found little variation among single race non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and Asians.
"Compared to adults, children and adolescents may be more likely to change their race/Hispanic responses for two reasons: childhood and adolescence are times of personal identity development and young people's information was probably reported by their parents in 2000 but may be self-reported in 2010," researchers said.
The most common change in responses was from Some Other Race (SOR) to single race white among those who identified (or were identified by someone in the household) as Hispanic in both the 2000 and the 2010 censuses. The second most common response change was from single race white to SOR for those who reported (or were reported as) Hispanic in the two censuses.
Specifically, 710,019 respondents changed from white to Hispanic white, and 417,855 changed from Hispanic white to white between one census and the next, according to an Associated Press article (10 million switched ethnicity or race ID on census forms by Jesse J. Holland). Races in the Census are white; black or African American; American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and other for those with more than one race. In addition, there is a Hispanic ethnic category. The article also pointed to people who were children and or living in the West when the 2000 Census took place as the most likely to have modified their responses between the government surveys. Source: Published originally on HispanicMarketingandPublicRelations.com as Millions swap ethnicity in Census forms by Elena del Valle, August 13, 2014.
- Author: NBC Latino
According to the national survey, fewer than half of all Americans say the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality. When it comes to Latinos, around 43 percent of Latinos say that the U.S. has made “a lot” of progress in the past 50 years to achieving Martin Luther King’s dream. Meanwhile, slightly more — 48 percent of Hispanics — think “a lot” more has to be done to achieve racial equality.
Latinos’ perspectives aren’t too far off from the rest of country’s. Fewer than half — or 45 percent — of all Americans think the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality. About the same amount, 49 percent of all Americans, think “a lot” more remains to be done.
The report also examined group relations in the United States and found that the majority of whites, black and Hispanics get along well with each other. Three-quarters of white Americans say that their group and Hispanics get along well — a view largely shared by 74 percent of Hispanics. According to the findings, the relationship between whites and Latinos fares slightly better than the relationship between blacks and Hispanics. Six in ten Hispanics say the two groups get along well compared to 78 percent of blacks.
Overall, the survey hints at improving relationships between Hispanics and other races. Since the question was last asked in a 2009 Pew survey, the proportion of Americans saying whites and Hispanics got along well increased from 67 percent to 74 percent. The proportion that say blacks and Hispanics got along well also increased, from 48 percent to 54 percent.
Despite progress on race relations, at least one in five Latinos say they have personally experienced discrimination.
The demographic and economic data provides a mixed picture of Latinos’ well-being in recent decades. The income gap between Hispanics and whites has remained unchanged since 2007. The number of Latinos owning homes has also slightly dropped since 2007, when Hispanic homeownership was at 66 percent that of whites. Meanwhile, Latino students have slightly bridged the high school completion gap. In 2012, the Hispanic rate was 70 percent that of the white rate, compared to 54 percent back in 1971, when data on Latinos first became available.
Source: Published originally on NBC Latino as What do Latinos think of state of race relations today? New study releases findings,by Jacquellena Carrero, August 22, 2013.