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.