Community Connection Sessions — Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs

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Project Background

The term Hispanic was created in 1980 as a term for the census that would be a catchall for folks who were Spanish speakers. In the 90s, the term Latino emerged into popularity to encompass folks who descended from Latin American countries. These two terms were created within the United States to create a demographic of folks who were either primarily Spanish speaking and/or from Latin America.

The problem with these two labels is that they are now outdated and many folks in our community do not identify with these two terms. Folks in our community often identify themselves as originating from their home or ancestral country; some identify by the indigenous community they belong in, for example. Others are descendants of places that are now considered California, New Mexico, Arizona and other US states that were annexed from Mexico in the 1800s.

As our Commission moves toward the direction of engaging and cultivating trust within the community, especially those most marginalized within our community, it’s time to revisit the name of the agency to better reflect the folks who are of Hispanic/Latine descent in Washington state.

About the Community Connection Questionnaire

This is a short questionnaire comprised of five parts, available in Spanish and English. We are inquiring about identity, demographic information and what folks recommend for a commission name.

The Process

The Commission will conduct hour long listening sessions and will be tabling events in each county. The sessions will be conducted by the community development team and headquarters staff.

During the sessions, we will inquire about identity and demographic information. We will also ask folks to provide a recommendation for a commission name. This data will then be compiled, and a recommendation will follow.

The Impact

Data gathered from respective communities will aid in a second recommendation: how to better present demographic options to the Latine/Hispanic community so this demographic is captured accurately within our state data gathering systems. This will allow for the state to have a better idea on how to collect data and make equitable programming, funding, and service delivery decisions.

Having a greater understanding of this demographic will allow for the improvement of service delivery, data collection, and outreach to this demographic. The results for this data collection will impact the following:

13.7% of Washingtonians who identify as Latine/Hispanic who will be benefactors of the data outcomes.
State agencies and the Governor who serve and work on behalf of this demographic ad will be able to utilize data outcomes in decision making.
The state legislature who makes rules affecting this demographic and will be able to utilize data outcomes in decisionmaking.

Meet the CHA Team

Learn More About the CDOs