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Race and Ethnicity
The Census and Race—Part IV— Civil Rights and the Cold War
What is special about the census categories White, Japanese, and Chinese?
Posted July 27, 2010
View of Crowd at August 28, 1963 March on Washington
This is the fourth post in a six part series dealing with the race questions on the census. The end of de jure segregation and racial discrimination led to changes in American culture that were accompanied by changes in the "racial" categories and concepts used by the census. (In order to simplify the discussion, extended descriptions of some of the changes are listed in footnotes.)
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The 1950 census was the first to use the term "race" as the sole descriptor. "Race" appeared in the census for the first time in 1900 as part of the category "color or race"--terminology that continued through 1940. The 1950 census specified seven races: White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Other race (spell out).
A comparison with the eight options of the 1890 census 60 years earlier shows that only three descriptors were identical (White, Japanese, and Chinese). Terms such as mulatto, quadroon, and octoroon had long since disappeared. Sixty years later, in 2010, with "race" once again as the sole descriptor, and with 15 options, these are also the only three identical terms. (We know from research on psychological testing and polling that slight changes in wording can lead to dramatic changes in responses, so that, for example, "Indian" and "American Indian" on different censuses cannot be considered to be the same descriptor.)
The dramatic changes in "racial" descriptors over time are clear evidence that they are cultural categories rather than biological ones, and that their use in the census has resulted from political decisions rather than scientific evidence.
In 1960 the term "race" disappeared from the census and was replaced by "Is this person - White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Part Hawaiian, Aleut, Eskimo, (etc.)?" Eliminating the term "race," while collecting needed information, has long been advocated by anthropologists and other specialists. At the same time as implementing this desirable practice, the 1960 census once again proliferated categories by adding four new ones. In addition, the question implied that individuals could only choose one term--a response of "White, Negro, and American Indian" would seem to contradict the instructions.
The 1970 census made a series of changes detailed in Note 1. These included reintroducing the category "color or race" and increasing the number of options to nine. In an odd move, Aleut and Eskimo were races only in Alaska, and Hawaiian and Korean were races everywhere except Alaska. Thus, Americans could change their race by moving to or from Alaska; and the actual number of races counted by the census was eleven. In addition for the first time the census created a separate question about Latin American "origin or descent."
The 1980 census once again allowed individuals to choose only one descriptor (see Note 2). However, it returned to the "Is this person" format--eliminating the word "race"--and expanding the number of options to 15. It also continued the practice of using a separate question for "Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent."
The on-again-off-again nature of the "Is this person" format began in 1960, around the time that scientists agreed that race was not a biological concept applicable to the human species. Since the designers of the census have long been aware of the scientific facts, it is reasonable to interpret the oscillation as resulting from the conflict between scientific knowledge and political considerations. Not surprisingly, political considerations appear to have won, since the term "race"--not even "color or race"--has been used as the exclusive descriptor since 1990.
A second kind of distinction began in the 1970 census. This was to separate Latin American descent (not called "race") from other kinds of descent ("race"). For example, a large proportion of the "octoroons" of the 1890 census could have "passed for white." They would in fact have been considered white (or fair or blanco or branco or blanc) throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, but not in the United States, because they had "black blood"--i.e., African descent. In contrast, most Americans would consider Latinos a race and discrimination against them racial discrimination, but the census refuses to acknowledge this cultural classification.
In short, science says that neither whites nor blacks nor Latinos are a race; American culture says that all three are races; and contradicting both, the census says that whites and blacks are races but that Latinos are not.
Image Source: View of Crowd at August 28, 1963 March on Washington (U.S. Information Agency)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Crowd_at_1963_March_on_W…
Note 1-- The 1970 census made the following changes. (1) Question 4 reintroduced the category "color or race." (2) The term "Part Hawaiian" was eliminated. (3) Individuals were explicitly made to choose only one term, (4) For Hawaii and the 48 contiguous states the number of options increased to nine: White, Negro, Indian (Amer.) Print tribe____, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Other - Print race _____. For Alaska, the categories "Aleut" and "Eskimo" were substituted for "Hawaiian" and "Korean." Thus, the total number of options was actually eleven. (5) In addition, Question 13 b. asked a question clearly separated from color or race: "Is this person's origin or descent" and gave six options: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, Other Spanish, and No, none of these.
Note 2--The 1980 census reinstituted the practice of allowing individuals to choose only one descriptor. In doing so, it returned to the "Is this person" format-eliminating the word "race"-and expanding the number of options to 15: White, Black or Negro, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Eskimo, Aleut, Indian (Amer.) Print tribe _____, Other - Specify ____. As in 1970, a separate question was created for Latinos. This time it was worded "Is this person of Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent?" and gave five options: No (not Spanish/Hispanic), Yes, Mexican, Mexican-Amer., Chicano, Yes, Puerto Rican, Yes, Cuban, Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic.
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