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Racial Categorization in the 2010 Census

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Racial Categorization in the 2010 Census U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS RACIAL CATEGORIZATION IN THE 2010 CENSUS BRIEFING REPORT U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS Washington, DC 20425 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 MARCH 2009 Visit us on the Web: www.usccr.gov U.S. Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957. It is directed to: • Investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices. • Study and collect information relating to discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice. • Appraise federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice. • Serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. • Submit reports, findings, and recommendations to the President and Congress. • Issue public service announcements to discourage discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws. Members of the Commission Gerald A. Reynolds, Chairman Abigail Thernstrom, Vice Chair Todd Gaziano Gail Heriot Peter N. Kirsanow Arlan D. Melendez Ashley L. Taylor, Jr. Michael Yaki Martin Dannenfelser, Staff Director U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 624 Ninth Street, NW Washington, DC 20425 (202) 376-8128 (202) 376-8116 TTY www.usccr.gov This report is available on disk in ASCII Text and Microsoft Word 2003 for persons with visual impairments. Please call (202) 376-8110. Racial Categorization in the 2010 Census A Briefing Before The United States Commission on Civil Rights Held in Washington, DC, April 7, 2006 Briefing Report Table of Contents v Table of Contents Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. 1 Summary of Proceedings ..........................................................................................................3 Charles Louis Kincannon...................................................................................................... 3 Sharon M. Lee....................................................................................................................... 4 Kenneth Prewitt .................................................................................................................... 6 Ward Connerly...................................................................................................................... 7 Discussion................................................................................................................................. 8 Statements............................................................................................................................... 15 Charles Louis Kincannon.................................................................................................... 15 Slide Presentation of Charles Louis Kincannon ............................................................. 18 Sharon M. Lee..................................................................................................................... 23 Kenneth Prewitt .................................................................................................................. 27 Ward Connerly.................................................................................................................... 32 State of Hawaii - Office of Hawaiian Affairs..................................................................... 34 Findings and Recommendations............................................................................................. 37 Statements of Commissioners................................................................................................. 43 Arlan Melendez and Michael Yaki..................................................................................... 43 Speaker Biographies ............................................................................................................... 49 Charles Louis Kincannon.................................................................................................... 49 Sharon M. Lee..................................................................................................................... 49 Kenneth Prewitt .................................................................................................................. 50 Ward Connerly.................................................................................................................... 50 Executive Summary 1 Executive Summary On April 7, 2006, a panel of experts briefed members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on racial categorization in the 2010 Census. Charles Louis Kincannon, Director, U.S. Census Bureau; Sharon M. Lee, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, Portland State University; Kenneth Prewitt, Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs, Columbia University; and Ward Connerly, Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute, made presentations and offered their expertise on 1) the current racial categories in the 2010 Census; 2) proposed alternative racial categories in the 2010 Census; 3) the proposed elimination of racial categories in the 2010 Census; and 4) the legal and policy implications of Office of Management and Budget guidance to federal agencies on allocation of multiple responses. The briefing was held in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. A transcript of this briefing is available on the Commission’s Web site (www.usccr.gov), and by request from the Publications Office, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 624 Ninth Street, NW, Room 600, Washington, DC, 20425; (202) 376-8128; [email protected]. Summary of Proceedings 3 Summary of Proceedings Charles Louis Kincannon Mr. Kincannon1 began by describing the history of race classification as a lesson in American history.2 He explained that from the beginning, the census implicitly recognized three race categories: white, black, and Indian.3 It was only following the passage of the 14th Amendment (requiring the counting of “the whole number of persons” rather than “free persons”) that the census became a true count of every person.4 Starting in the late nineteenth century and continuing through the twentieth century, race classification evolved to include Filipinos, Aleuts, and Hawaiians, among other categories. In 1970, a separate question on Hispanic origin was introduced as part of the long form sample (an extended census questionnaire obtained from approximately one in every six households). Since that time, this question has been used as part of the census short form (the census questions answered by every household). Another change that has been in place since 1970 is the reliance on self- identification, meaning that the indicated race reflects what individuals have chosen, rather than third party observations, as with earlier censuses. Mr. Kincannon described the role that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has played in the development of statistical policy.5 In 1978, for the first time, OMB provided federal standards for the collection, tabulation, and presentation of race and ethnic data for government programs via Statistical Policy Directive No. 15. At that time, OMB identified four race categories: white; black; American Indian or Alaska Native; and Asian or Pacific Islander, as well as identifying Hispanic as an ethnicity. In 1997, OMB issued substantial revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, calling for five separate race categories: white; black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. He explained that Hispanic origin remained a separate category from race. According to Mr. Kincannon, the revisions allowed individuals to identify themselves as any combination of the five racial categories (for example, white and African American or white and American Indian), making hundreds of race/Hispanic origin combinations possible. Evaluating Census 2000 and its results, Mr. Kincannon reported that an increasing number of people chose to identify as “some other race,” which is now the third largest race group in the United States according to census results.6 This presents a challenge because many federal programs do not include such a category in their data collection. He explained that the 1 As noted above, at the time of the hearing, Mr. Kincannon was the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. He subsequently resigned his position in November 2006. 2 Charles Louis Kincannon, Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, briefing, Dirksen Senate Building, Room 226, Washington, DC, Apr. 7, 2006, transcript, pp. 11–13 (hereafter Kincannon Testimony, Briefing Transcript). 3 Kincannon Testimony, Briefing Transcript, p. 12. 4 Ibid., pp. 12–13. 5 Ibid., pp. 13–15. 6 Ibid., pp. 15–16. 4 Racial Categorization in the 2010 Census Census Bureau had intended to drop the “some other race” category for the 2010 Census, but will now include it in response to congressional mandate. In 2000, of those who identified themselves
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