Painting by Number: What new racial categories in the Census say about how America defines itself
By Christopher Librizzi
Published: Friday, June 1, 2001
THE NATIONAL CENSUS was first conducted in 1790 and, until 1870, recognized only two races of Americans: White and Black. Native Americans, despite their undeniable place in the country’s history, were not included until 1890. No category for Latinos existed until 1970. The evolution of the race question on the Census reveals not only the centrality of race to the American experience, but also the slow, uneven progress of race relations. New racial questions signal the shifting undercurrents in American society, changes in social and political realities so powerful that they alter the way we as a nation choose to identify ourselves.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD (circa 2002a.d.)
…a recent case of routine institutional violation of civil rights, privacy and an obvious case of racial profiling…
…@ the place to obtain one’s arrest record (amongst other records) in Washington D.C. (which is also home to the Department of Motor Vehicles), there is a standard form all patrons must fill out to obtain a copy of their arrest record…part of the “MUST DO’s” of the form requires one to give up their racial identity as either Black or White…there is no other choice of heritage for persons of other desent…
to make the situation worse, the dmv database will not process a person’s paperwork without a checkmark in one of the two boxes, checked black or white…
…when confronted with the situation, a clerk told the entire crowd (clearly multiracial- arabs, Indians, islanders and others) they, “HAD” to choose one or the other even if they were none of the above…
…somebody step to the plate and sue!…
“THE NATIONAL CENSUS was first conducted in 1790 and, until 1870, recognized only two races of Americans: White and Black. Native Americans, despite their undeniable place in the country’s history, were not included until 1890. No category for Latinos existed until 1970.”
Not true at all. From 1850 until 1920, there was a mulatto category used. In 1880, enumerators were instructed to count anyone with perceivable whit ancestry as a mulatto. In 1890, they broke it down to “octoroon”. Many Native Americans were tabulated as black or mulatto. In 1900, enumerators were instructed to use One Drop, no mulatto designation was used, though it appeared on the form. 1910 and 1920 used mulatto at the descretion of the enumerator.
The “Hispanic” category was invented in the late ’70’s and was first used on the 1980 Census.
9/22/2004 12:35:46 PM