My grandmothee is half hispanic (her mother was Panamanan). As her granddaughter, can I claim Hispanic minority status?

Question

Interested in establishing my heritage.

Answer 1

You can claim whatever you want; however, to be “accepted” as that is a much more complex issue.

This website may lead you into some of the relevant factors: https://www.prb.org/

Searching for recognized minority groups can give more information.

Answer 2

So, of your eight great-grandparents, one was Panamanian.  She probably lived sometime from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s. Were you raised as a Hispanic person?  What is your first language? If the other seven great-grandparents were not Hispanic, personally, I would not try to claim minority status. Elizabeth Warren tried a similar claim as an American Indian, and it has hurt her reputation. Minority status is usually to assist true minorities with affirmative action, however, I do not know which laws might define minority status.

Answer 3

In the United States, "claiming minority status" is usually geared towards efforts to overcome racial and ethnic discrimination. Have you experienced racial or ethnic discrimination against you as a member of a minority? If so, have you experienced it from people who had not been told that you had Panamanian heritage? From people you don't know well, if at all?

Basically, should public policy and public institutions take into consideration the history and current prevalence of ethnic and racial discrimination in the United States in its dealings with you, because the overall climate of prejudice in our society has and/or does put you at an unfair disadvantage?

Unfortunately, for many people, the answer is yes. If people cannot tell you're an eighth Panamanian, the answer might be no, barring other circumstances.

Comments

 Googled 'what is a Hispanic' and is 1) relating to Spain or Spanish speaking and 2) one who is Spanish-speaking, living in the United States, especially one of Latin American descent

I'm not certain there has been a Legally-defined SOTUS-judgment on just what a Hispanic is, and if not what is the base-line definition for Hispanic as used in the United States, for instance. 

One thing that gets in the way is that someone whose parents or grandparents came from say Morocco to Spain, the child or grandchild is Spanish, born there, speaks Spanish and only rarely have I read that the 'of Moroccan' ancestry is mentioned (unless he / she blows up something, in which case, Spanish or not, they're suddenly Moroccan instead) 

Yet the same Moroccan ancestry in the United States turns out to be American-of-Moroccan descent or just American (and speaking English isn't even on the list) and there's no DNA test for 'American', whereas there is apparently (claims abound) DNA test results that will say 'northern Spain' or 'lower Peru' or whatever the case may be 

 Don't think there's any certain path to judging (by outsiders) whether one is Hispanic, or entitled to claim one is Hispanic.  Is there a DNA test result that says "Hispanic"? IF so then you could take that test.