New Census Race Data Add Categories,Controversy

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(As America becomes more and more of a melting pot, attempts to "classify" people will become more and more difficult. Perhaps someday, we will all just be "Americans"?)

By Genaro C. Armas Associated Press Writer

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) - The Census Bureau is adding a host of new ingredients to its statistical melting pot.

Results from this year's census will, for the first time, include the number of people who indicate they are of more than one race or ethnicity. A person whose mother is black and father is white, for instance, could check off boxes next to each of those choices this year.

The first detailed race data from the 2000 count on a state-by-state basis will be released in March, with national figures due late next year. With 63 racial combinations now possible, Census officials say those results will show an American society more diverse than ever.

Proponents of the hard-fought addition of multiple-choice boxes for racial identity are reluctant to predict how many people checked off more than one box. But there is no question these figures are crucial because government agencies make many decisions based upon them.

Irene Rotenberg has a more personal reason for liking the change. Rotenberg, who is white, wants her two teen-age sons, whose father is black, to be classified accurately.

"People in interracial families took it seriously because we just wanted to be counted," said Rotenberg, a member of the Montclair, N.J.-based Getting Interracial Families Together.

But a leading Hispanic advocate saw it differently.

"It would have been easier and simpler to have a single race option," said Eric Rodriguez, director of the economic mobility project for the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit advocacy group for Hispanic Americans. "The census has a very distinct purpose to collect broad data on (populations). It's not there for collecting people's identity."

Until now, the Census Bureau kept no official numbers on multiracial Americans. A Princeton University study earlier this year estimated that as many as 16.5 million people, or 6 percent of the country's population of 275 million, are multiracial.

Most of those people, Census officials say, live in America's big cities or their suburbs, such as Montclair, a tree-lined, well-to-do community in northern New Jersey about 12 miles west of New York City.

This year's census forms allowed respondents to mark one or more of 14 boxes representing six races and subcategories or "some other race." The change was necessitated by the Office of Management and Budget's revised standards for collecting and tabulating data on race and ethnicity.

Americans now have the option of classifying themselves as white and black, Native American and Asian, or many other combinations.

"Hispanic" is officially considered an ethnicity, not a race; as a result, people of Hispanic descent can count in any race. Besides the 63 racial possibilities, multiracial Americans also had the choice to say whether they are "Hispanic" or "non-Hispanic."

Beyond the dry statistics, Jeff Hitchcock, president of the Montclair group, said he feels the real effect of the change will be felt after his sons - ages 8 and 10 - and other multiracial children in their generation are old enough to feel comfortable with how they label themselves.

Hitchcock is white, his wife is black. This year, they checked off both boxes for their sons.

"This is a monoracial society. You go where you can change the system. The census was an ideal target and still is," he said as his sons scampered around a gym, playing catch with other boys.

Someone who in 1990 selected black and now chooses black and white will not count as a black person in the 2000 census. He or she will be counted as a person who picked two races.

The result could be that, at least statistically, the number of people who list themselves as minorities could shrink.

Some critics have said the change in this year's census form could have an adverse impact on civil rights enforcement. Others envision a conspiracy to water down the number of minorities in the country, said Haunani Apoliona of Honolulu.

A flood of e-mails went out in Hawaii before Census Day, April 1, telling people not to check off more than one box.

"At this point, we couldn't say with certainty what the outcome will be," said Apoliona, head of a panel that advises the Census Bureau on the Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations. She supported the change.

"From our perspective, it's important to check off what applies," said Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington, D.C., bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"What's equally, or more important for us is enforcement," he said. "The bottom line" is how the new options affect it.

Seeking to clarify the issue, OMB in March issued new guidelines for federal agencies to follow for civil rights monitoring and enforcement.

Still unresolved is how federal officials will "bridge" the new categories back to 1990 figures to detect statistical changes. A decision is expected next year.

"I don't know if interracial couples are an oddity, or if it's that surprising anymore," said Roosevelt Nesmith, a member of the Montclair group, who is black and whose wife is white. "There have been interracial and biracial couples for hundreds of years."

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), December 09, 2000


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