The real problem is the system operates on an expectation you will wave the right to a speedy trial, and once waved its my non lawyer understanding you can’t reassert it. So they push you to wave it, additionally you and your lawyer often wants it waved too because the government has as much time as they want to prepare their case before your arrest but you and your lawyer are playing catch up so more time means you’re more prepared for trial.

If I recall correctly, it’s actually a throw back to the American Mexican war, when the war ended one of the terms of the treaty was that Hispanics would legally be white, and thus safe from things like slavery. So later when the government census wanted to know they invented “white, Hispanic”.