--- title: "II. Esther Cepeda: I’m a Minority Within a Minority" description: "<!– Tell Us Your Story Join the conversation about ethnic identity on the Pew Hispanic Center Facebook page. –> Any day you learn something important about yourself is a great day. That’s how I felt the day the Pew Hispanic Center published its report “When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity.” That […]" date: "2012-05-30" authors: - name: "No Author" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2012/05/30/esther-cepeda-im-a-minority-within-a-minority/" categories: - "Hispanic/Latino Identity" - "Integration & Identity" - "Race & Ethnicity" - "Racial & Ethnic Identity" --- # II. Esther Cepeda: I’m a Minority Within a Minority ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/05/Cepeda_340.jpg) Any day you learn something important about yourself is a great day. That’s how I felt the day the Pew Hispanic Center published its report “[When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity](https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2012/04/04/when-labels-dont-fit-hispanics-and-their-views-of-identity/).” That was the day I realized I’m a minority within a minority – one of the mere 21% of respondents who trace their roots to a Spanish-speaking country but identifies primarily as an American. No biggie, really, I always knew I was different that way; the report helped me understand why. Well, I was already familiar with part of it – I grew up in mini-UN part of Chicago where everyone’s parents were from somewhere else and we were lucky enough to attend a school that treated us equally as new converts to the religion of Americana. Pair that with thousands of hours of watching Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and the Flintstones and I was practically apple pie incarnate – well outside the 47% of survey respondents who said they consider themselves to be very different from the “typical American.” As a bicultural, bilingual Chicagoan, I feel pretty typical. And I get a little crabby when asked where I’m “really” from when I say I’m American – probably just like the rest of those who identify themselves as American. Why am I “American?” Well for one, because I say so. There are many other reasons, but the biggest one is that my parents are not from the same Spanish-speaking country. Being the U.S.-born child of Ecuadorian and Mexican immigrants effectively makes me pan-ethnic Hispanic or Latino (and I’m firmly in the Hispanic boat – hearing the term “Latino” is like nails on a chalkboard to me) instead of simply Mexican-American or Ecuadorian-American. I can’t dis half my heritage, can I? Basically, I’m a mutt. And what could be more American than that? Esther J. Cepeda is a nationally-syndicated columnist for the [Washington Post Writers Group](http://www.600words.com/) and is based in Chicago. Views in this conversation series are those of each author alone, and not the views of the Pew Hispanic Center, which is nonpartisan and non-advocacy. --- **Next:** [III. Janet Murguía: Diverse Identities but Much Common Ground](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2012/05/31/janet-murguia-diverse-identities-but-much-common-ground.md)