U.S. censuses and race relations

SIGNIFICANCE: Every ten years, a federal census counts all the people residing in the United States. The information obtained includes each person’s ethnic or racial background. This enables the size of each ethnic or racial group to be compared over time and allows governmental programs to take the size of an ethnic or racial group into account when determining policy. 

The United States Constitution requires that population be the basis for determining the number of seats apportioned to each state in the US House of Representatives. As the population of the country shifts, the decennial census permits a readjustment in the number of seats for each state. Census reports have also been used to calculate how many immigrants from particular countries are allowed admission into the United States as well as to determine what constitutes unlawful discrimination.  

Censuses 

A population census is a complete count of all persons residing in a particular area. A census differs from a population sample, which scientifically selects a percentage of persons in an area in order to estimate characteristics of the entire population of the territory. 

To undertake a population census, census takers must identify the dwelling units in the area to be covered. Then they must go to each abode and obtain information from all persons residing therein. Inevitably, census takers miss some people because not everyone is at home when the census taker arrives, some people choose to evade being counted, others are homeless or transient, and not all dwelling units are easy to identify. Censuses, thus, generally undercount population, especially in areas where less affluent minorities reside. That is why, some argue, a method known as “statistical sampling” may be more accurate than an actual headcount, provided that the census has identified all dwelling units. 

The Constitution of the United States requires a population census every ten years. Because the Constitution requires that each state’s representation in the federal House of Representatives be based on population, a major purpose of the decennial census is to increase or decrease the number of seats in the House of Representatives apportioned to each state in accordance with relative changes in the population of each state. The Constitution did not consider Native Americans to be citizens of the United States, so they were not originally counted in the census. Individuals living on reservations did not affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives until after 1924, when they were granted American citizenship. Those of African descent were counted in each state, but before the Civil War (1861–65), when they were not considered citizens, their number was multiplied by three-fifths for the purpose of reapportioning representation in the House of Representatives. 

Beginning in the 1960s, affirmative action began to be applied to remedy employment discrimination in the United States. One aspect of the policy is that federal government employers and those with federal contracts are supposed to hire men and women of the various ethnic or racial groups in the same proportions as their relative availability in the workforce. To determine the composition of the workforce, employers usually rely on census data, which are disseminated by the US Department of Labor. 

Ethnic/Racial Categories

In the first federal census of 1790, each individual was assigned membership in one of two racial groups: white and colored. The colored population was divided into free colored and slaves, and both categories were divided into Black or mulatto. These census categories were used until 1860, when the Asiatic category was added and a count was made of the people in various Native American tribes. The 1870 census used four categorieshite, Colored, Chinese, and Indian. In 1880, Japanese became the fifth category, and the term “Negro” replaced “Colored.” These five categories remained on census reports through 1900. The 1910 census added several new categoriesFilipinos, Hindus, and Koreans. A footnote in the census report noted that Hindus were Caucasians but still were counted separately from Whites. The 1920 census added Hawaiians and part Hawaiians, but these two categories were removed from the national enumeration in 1930 and 1940. Mexicans joined the category list in 1930 and 1940. In 1950, the only racial categories were White and Non-White. In 1960, six categories were usedhite, Negro, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian. In 1970, Hawaiians and Koreans returned to the list, making eight categories. In 1980, the category Black replaced Negro, and the list of Asian and Pacific races expanded to include Asian Indians, Samoans, and Vietnamese. In 1990, nearly every country in Asia was represented as a separate category. 

Although Mexicans appeared as a category in 1930 and 1940, they did not reappear in national statistics for forty years. In 1970, the census counted “Persons of Spanish Heritage,” but in 1980, the census counted Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans separately. In 1990, the census reported the number of persons from almost all countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. 

Census reports on the territories of Alaska and Hawaii used unique category schemes. For Alaska, the census counted Aleuts, Eskimos, and Alaskan Natives; Aleuts and Eskimos became national categories in 1980 and 1990, but Alaskan Natives were pooled with all other Native Americans in both years. For Hawaii, the Indigenous Hawaiians were counted, although up to 1930, they were divided into pure Hawaiians, Asiatic Hawaiians, and Caucasian Hawaiians. 

From the beginning, the census had separate subcategories for European ethnic groups such as British, French, German, and so on, all of which were counted as White. The breakdown was made to record the number of foreign-born individuals in the population. Due to concerns among the earlier immigrants from western and northern Europe that too many eastern and southern Europeans were arriving, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924. This act replaced a temporary immigration law, passed in 1921, which had restricted immigrants to three percent of each admissible nationality residing in the United States as of 1910. According to the 1924 act, known as the National Origins Act, the maximum from each European country was calculated as two percent of the nationality group already inside the United States as determined by the federal census of 1890. Most Asians, effectively, were barred from immigration under the law with the exception of Filipinos, as the Philippines was an American possession as of 1898. The restrictive 1924 immigration law imposed no quota on immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. With the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Congress established equal quotas for all countries, regardless of hemisphere. 

With the advent of affirmative action, a five-category scheme was developed by federal civil rights enforcement agencies. The so-called COINS categories stood for Caucasian, Oriental, Indian, Negro, and Spanish. Later, the term “Oriental” was replaced by the term “Asian and Pacific Islander,” and the term “Hispanic” replaced the term “Spanish.” 

2000 Census: Changes to Race Designations

During the 1990s, considerable pressure was brought to bear to change the categories for the census for the year 2000. Some Blacks wanted to be called "African Americans.” Hispanics wanted to be counted as “Latinos” and as members of a race rather than an ethnic group. Native Hawaiians wanted to be moved from the category “Asians and Pacific Islanders” and included with “American Indians and Native Alaskans.” Middle Easterners, particularly those from Islamic countries, wanted separate status. Finally, some mixed-race or multiethnic people who spanned two or more of the categories wanted to be counted as “multiracial.” Advocates of a society in which ethnic and racial distinctions would not be recognized officially wanted to drop all references to race and ethnicity in the census. 

After many hearings and studies on the subject, the US Office of Management and Budget decided to keep the previous categorizations with one modification: “Asians” would be counted separately from “Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.” The proposal for a separate “multiracial” category was rejected, but persons with multiracial backgrounds would be allowed to check more than one category. Thus, data on ethnic backgrounds of people in the United States have been collapsed into five racial categoriesAfrican American or Black, American Indian or Native Alaskan, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. The 2000 US census permited a member of any of these five categories to also check “Hispanic or Latino.” 

2020 Census Showed Changing US Demographics

The 2020 US Census indicated sharp demographic changes were underway in the United States. Beginning in the late twentieth century and continuing into the twenty-first, the United States mirrored a global environment shared by economically advanced countries. This was where native-born populations saw declining birth rates and longer life expectancies. Older population segments grew in numbers, while those in younger age groups contracted. Many Western democracies, such as the United States, met labor shortfalls by encouraging the entry of large numbers of immigrant workers. After several generations, the descendants of the more recently arrived immigrants grew as a percentage of voters. For example, in Texas, Hispanics became the majority population in 2023.  

The 2020 Census showed a sharp upward trend in the percentages that Hispanic or Latino communities formed in American society. In 2020, approximately 62 million Americans identified themselves in this racial category, which comprised almost 19 percent of all Americans. In Texas, Hispanics became the majority population in 2023. Nationwide, White demographics had declined to about 58 percent of the US population. 

As indicated by empirical data such as in the US Census, United States witnessed large changes in its racial makeup, perceptions on marriage, religion, sexuality, and gender roles. For example, the changed roles of Latina women were included in this evolution. Between 2010 and 2022, the adult Latina population in the United States grew by 5.6 million and at a faster rate than any other female racial or ethnic group. As of 2024, it stood at 22.2 million. Hispanic females began to assume larger societal roles more consistent with their numerical proportion of the American population. These included institutions historically over-represented by male counterparts, such as in the military, legislatures, judiciary, law enforcement, clergy, etc. Many native-born groups came to believe their traditional and cultural predominance to be at risk by the changed societal demographics. These nativists also believed minority groups were more predisposed to vote for Democratic candidates and sought to slow these changes by inhibiting others from voting. 

Despite the accuracy of US Census data, many people made inaccurate assumptions of what the data inferred. For example, many associated larger numbers of Latinos in locations such as Texas with the ascendancy of the Democratic Party in the state. This was as areas with majority Latino populations had historically been Democratic Party strongholds. This historical norm was upended in the 2024 US Presidential elections. Republican candidate Donald Trump garnered unprecedented support among Latino voters in Texas on the way to winning the general election.   

Impact on Public Policy

The ethnic and racial diversity of the United States is best documented by the decennial federal census. The count of each ethnic or racial group is crucial in determining whether discrimination occurs, but questions about ethnic group membership or race on a census deeply affect the identity of many persons, who in turn may support efforts either to abolish ethnic and racial counts or to change categories. 

Bibliography

Anderson, Margo J. The American Census: A Social History. Yale University Press, 1988.  

Bryant, Barbara Everett, and William Dunn. Moving Power and Money: The Politics of Census Taking. New Strategic, 1995.  

Choldin, Harvey M. Looking for the Last Percent: The Controversy over Census Undercounts. Rutgers University Press, 1994.  

Frey, William. “New 2020 Census Data Shows an Aging America and Wide Racial Gaps Between Generations.” Brookings, 1 Aug. 2023, www.brookings.edu/articles/new-2020-census-data-shows-an-aging-america-and-wide-racial-gaps-between-generations. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.  

Haugen, David M., Susan Musser, and Ross M. Berger. The US Census. Greenhaven, 2012.   

Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1980s. Routledge, 1986.  

Robey, Bryant. Two Hundred Years and Counting: The 1990 Census. Population Reference Bureau, 1989.  

Scherer, Jasper, et. al. "Trump’s Near Sweep of Texas Border Counties Shows a Shift to the Right for Latino Voters." The Texas Tribune, 6 Nov. 2024, www.texastribune.org/2024/11/06/donald-trump-near-sweep-texas-border-counties. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024. 

Ura, Alexa. "Hispanics Officially Make Up the Biggest Share of Texas’ Population, New Census Numbers Show." The Texas Tribune, 21 June 2023, www.texastribune.org/2023/06/21/census-texas-hispanic-population-demographics. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.