Racial and Ethnic Definitions

The 2010 U.S. census was sent to every housing unit in the nation, with the objective of obtaining the most accurate count possible of the demographics of the country and each state within it. The first census was conducted in 1790, when a total national population of just under 3.9 million was reported. By contrast, the 2010 census revealed a national population of more than 308 million. Each census in the United States since 1790 has counted the American population by race and/or ethnicity, with each census up to 1840 using the categories of “Free White Males” and “Free White Females.”

The official racial and ethnic categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau have changed over the course of the nation's history, as have the definitions of these categories. For example, the 1930 census listed “Mexican” as a racial category (the only census ever to classify Mexicans as a “racial” group). From 1940 to 1960, Mexicans were officially considered to be “white” for census purposes, unless they were “visibly Indian or Negro.” However, the 1970 census established a new category, “Spanish Origin,” to classify and count persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Spanish-speaking Latin American ancestries. In 1980, the Census Bureau transformed the “Spanish Origin” label into the category “Hispanic.”

Because racial and ethnic categories are socially constructed phenomena and because individuals differ considerably in terms of self-identification, any attempt to classify people by race or ethnicity is inherently problematic. Individuals disagree on which labels are deemed appropriate or inappropriate, just as people do not agree on the specific manner in which the officially established racial and ethnic categories are defined. Since matters of identity politics are highly emotional, racial/ethnic labels and their definitions (both of which have been established by the federal government) are destined to generate controversy and protest from the persons who are required to identify with such labels and definitions. Such was the case with the 2010 census.