This question is not new but is interesting as to why the US government wants to know about your ethnicity/race with regards to Hispanics & Non-Hispanics.
The 2010 Census
source:
http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdfQuestion 8: Is Person 1 Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
Question 9: What is Person 1's race?
The 2000 Census
source:
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d61a.pdfQuestion 7: Is the Person Spanish/Hispanic/Latino?
Question 8: What is the persons race?
I found an interesting report on the result of the 2010 census discussing the issue, which states that in 1997, the OMB (Office of Management & Budget's) revised the standards of classifications.
".... 1997 Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. These federal standards mandate that race and Ethnicity (Hispanic origin) are separate and distinct concepts and that when collecting these data via self-identification, two different questions must be used."
source:
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/b...c2010br-04.pdf