Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Issues in Prevention

Race Categories

American Indian-Alaska Native—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliations or community recognition.

Asian-Pacific Islander—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.

Black or African American—a person having origins in any of the racial groups of Africa.

White—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

Ethnic Category

Hispanic—a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

In 1994 the Interagency Committee for the Review of the Racial and Ethnic Standards advised the OMB [Page 752]to update its minimum categories for data on race and ethnicity and defined the following categories:

American Indian-Alaska Native—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliations or community recognition.

Asian-Pacific Islander—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. These areas include, for example, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, and Samoa.

Black or African American—a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

Hispanic—a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

White—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

In addition, the committee recommended that, when race and ethnicity data were collected separately, ethnicity data be collected first with the minimum ethnicity designation being Hispanic origin or not of Hispanic origin. The new standards also allowed for the reporting of more than one race for those of multiracial ancestry.

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