Demographics and Ethnic Diversity

Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity is one of the only demographic traits that has been tracked in every census. However, the way ethnic information has been collected and categorized has varied considerably, making comparisons between censuses difficult. The earliest censuses tracked free whites, slaves, and “all other free persons.” More specific ethnic and racial information was not necessary for the purpose of allocating electoral votes and congressional apportionment. In 1820, non-naturalized foreigners were also noted. Mixed-race individuals were tracked in 1850, and in 1860 Native Americans who had joined white society were tabulated. Detailed information on the African American community was not tracked until 1870, after the end of slavery, which was also the first census to begin tracking nationality. As immigration increased, new ethnic or race options were added to the census according to recent trends. The race options in 1890, for instance, were “white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian.” Today, only two of those would be included unaltered, and mixed-race individuals are no longer subcategorized so arcanely.

For much of census history, census takers determined the race of each respondent. Today, race and ethnicity are self-reported. Differences in attitudes toward race impact the complication of comparing data from separate censuses for this reason. Definitions of race have also changed. Native Hawai'ian and Other Pacific Islander has only been tracked as a separate race group since 1990, having been grouped with Asians in the past. Though it was once possible to check “Other,” with a write-in space for elaboration, in the race category this option has recently been removed, thereby drawing complaints from Hispanics who identified their race as Hispanic [Page 33]or Latino (despite the official census policy that “Hispanic” is an ethnic, not racial, category) and from Arab, Persian, and Indian Americans who identify with none of the offered options.

...