Census 2000 and Race
The Census asks individuals to identify their race and ethnicity. In 1990, respondents could choose from only five racial categories; in 2000, from 63 since Census 2000 allows for individuals to identify as more than one race. The list of Race and Ethnic Groups (alone or in combination) includes hundreds of possibilities. Racial and Ethnic Classifications Used in Census 2000 and Beyond explains why the Census made these changes and how they will be tabulated into the six basic OMB categories of American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, White, Hispanic (of any race), or Some Other Race. Project Race provides analysis from the multiracial community about this. This change has been extremely controversial and has also meant that the data from 2000 and earlier Censuses are not comparable, OMB issued guidelines on how responses of more than one race should be allocated for monitoring and enforcement of civil rights. Also in the 2000 Census, Hispanic was asked before race and then followed by race in an attempt to decrease the number of people (mostly Hispanic, but also Middle Eastern) who identify as Some Other Race and to get a more accurate count.
Historical racial classification and the census:
Year |
Category |
1790 |
Free Whites, Other Free Persons, and Slaves |
1800 and 1810 |
Free Whites; Other Free Persons, except Indians not taxed; and Slaves |
1820 |
Free Whites, Slaves, Free Colored Persons, and other persons, except Indians not taxed |
1830 and 1840 |
Free White Persons, Slaves, Free Colored Persons |
1850 |
White, Black, and Mulatto |
1860 |
White, Black, Mulatto, and Indian |
1870 and 1880 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, and Indian |
1890 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian |
1900 |
White, Black, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian |
1910 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Other (plus write-in) |
1920 |
White, Black, Mulatto, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean, and Other (plus write-in) |
1930 |
White, Negro, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean (Other races, spell out in full) |
1940 |
White, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, Korean (Other races, spell out in full) |
1950 |
White, Negro, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino (Other races, spell out) |
1960 |
White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Part Hawaiian, Aleut, Eskimo |
1970 |
White, Negro or Black, Indian (American), Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Other (print race) |
1980 |
White, Negro, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian (American), Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Eskimo, Aleut, Other (specify) |
1990 |
White, Black, Indian (American), Eskimo, Aleut, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Asian Indian, Samoan, Guamanian, Other Asian Pacific Islander, Other race |
2000 |
White; Black, African American, or Negro; American Indian or Alaska Native (specify tribe); Asian Indian; Chinese; Filipino; Other Asian (print race); Japanese; Korean; Vietnamese; Hawaiian; Guamanian or Chamorro; Samoan; Other Pacific Islander (print race); Some other race. Two or More Races -- any combination of up to six races (57 possibilities), each mixed race person can also be Hispanic or Not Hispanic. |
1790-1990 data adapted from Anderson and Fienberg (2000: Tables 3 and 4) and 2000 data from U.S. Census Bureau (2001a). From: Measuring Racial Discrimination, 2004. Also online at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091268/html/205.html. |
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