Race 8

Question 1

When did the Census state that race and ethnicity do not represent scientific or anthropological categories?

Answer 1

1977

Question 2

When was the last time that the Census had enumerators decided on the racial classifications for households?

Answer 2

1950

Question 3

What is race?

Answer 3

A social category that describes members of a population who share some common physical features (e.g., skin color) and whose ancestors share a common geographical origin. (Hirschman 2004)

Question 4

What is the one-drop rule?

Answer 4

All persons of mixed white and black ancestry are considered and treated as solely black. This reflects the ideas of most Americans. Most other mixed white-black populations, such as Latin American do not have this rule, and consider color on a continuum or have other groupings. (Hirschman 2004)

Question 5

What does Hirschman (2004) mean that race was “political” category in the Census.

Answer 5

Numbers of a group matter. Benefits are associated with a populate whose presence can be counted. E.g., Hispanic leadership pushing for inclusion in the 1970s Census.