The term “blood quantum” is used by the government or organizations to describe a person’s descent from a particular racial or ethnic group.

Blood quantum laws began with Native American legislation, in 1705 when Virginia adopted laws which limited civil rights of Native Americans, however, it wasn’t applied widely until 1934 with the Indian Reorganization Act. Currently, each tribe has a different blood quantum requirement to join.

Hawaii’s native people are defined differently by various federal, state and private agencies. Those definitions, all based on blood quantum, influence where Hawaiians live, go to school or work. For example, you must have 50% “Hawaiian blood” to live on the Federal lands reserved for Native Hawaiians. Kamehameha Schools, a private school founded by Bernice Pauahi Bishop (a descendent of King Kamehameha the Great), prefers Native Hawaiian applicants who have at least one Hawaiian descendent pre-1959.

Recently, the media struggled to identify George Zimmerman as “white,” “Hispanic,” or a “white Hispanic.” Accused of killing 17-year old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, Zimmerman identified himself as “Hispanic” although he is a mix of Jewish, Catholic, white, and Peruvian. The term “hispanic” refers to a multicultural minority with roots in Spanish speaking countries.

From a study by Pew: “Nearly four decades after the United States government mandated the use of the terms ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ to categorize Americans who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking countries, a new nationwide survey of Hispanic adults finds that these terms still haven’t been fully embraced by Hispanics themselves. A majority (51%) say they most often identify themselves by their family’s country of origin.”

Is ethnicity defined by blood, or by culture, or a mixture of both? Does a quantifiable definition of ethnicity exist or is it a social construct? Do you believe it can be accurately be defined? Should the government seek to identify citizens by their ethnicity or should all citizens be classified equally?

In an increasingly multicultural world, how should an individual born and raised in several countries, with a mix of several cultural identities, define themselves?