In a historic overhaul of federal statistics, the US government has announced that it will overhaul how it classifies by race and ethnicity. This is the first major change since 1990 when the boundaries between racial and ethnic groups—and their trustiness as identifiers—remained much more firmly defined than they do today.
The stir they caused has been significant, mainly because the US Census Bureau recently declared that it would overhaul the classifications. When the new definitions are applied, far-flung corners of society—from government policy to public health and social research—will have to follow suit.
Posted by the Census Bureau online, the revisions point to expanding how racial and ethnic identities are categorized, more accurately capturing the complexities of identity and providing a new way to validate the growing diversity within the US population.
“It’s time to reflect our nation’s vibrant color and diversity by modernizing our classification system,” said the director of the Census Bureau, Dr. Maria Thompson, in a statement. “We want every person in America to see themselves counted.”
One of the most significant updates is adding new categories to better reflect the diversity of racial and ethnic groups – precisely, additional specifications for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent and mixed-race heritage.
The long-time 1997 incarnation of these categories has also been cited for being too simplistic, given the complex world of race and ethnicity in the United States. Anyone who has filled out this information knows this isn’t a true picture of the percentage of ancestry. Activists have called for these changes, and rightly so.
This modified taxonomy could affect government programs, health policy, and academic research. More nuanced data on race and ethnicity would allow policymakers and researchers to make better decisions and reduce disparities.
The announcement’s optics have sparked both acclaim and consternation. Some view the long-overdue changes as a welcoming stride toward acceptance and accuracy, while others wonder aloud about the details of implementation and what sort of blowback might occur.
The new classification system’s official publication and implementation will soon enable federal agencies and other organizations to adapt their systems and procedures. The Census Bureau has articulated an extensive plan for outreach and education.
Such revisions, as the US struggles to reckon with questions of race, ethnicity, and identity, are a welcome realignment to accurately reflect its population.
Source: apnews.com March 29, 2024
