Demography - Racial/ethnic Origin Classifications

In 1977 the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting, a policy directive that established four racial and two ethnicity categories. The racial categories were white, black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander. The ethnicity categories were Hispanic origin and not of Hispanic origin. (People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.)

In the past, for decennial censuses (those occurring every ten years), the Census Bureau divided the American population into the four racial categories identified by the OMB, adding the category "some other race." The U.S. government uses these race/ethnic origin data to make decisions, among other things, about funding and laws. For example, federal programs use the race information to promote support programs for the elderly and equal employment opportunities, while states use the data to ensure compliance with redistricting requirements.

As ethnic identity has become more complex because of immigration and interracial marriages and births, a growing number of people have objected to categories based on race. It is no longer unusual to find people whose backgrounds include two or more races.

In 1994 the Census Bureau conducted hearings to consider adding new choices to the categories that had been used in the 1990 census. The bureau found that Arab Americans were unhappy with their official designation of "White, non-European." This group includes persons from the Middle East, Turkey, and North Africa. Many indigenous Hawaiians wanted to be recategorized from Pacific Islander to Native American, reflecting historical accuracy and giving them access to greater minority benefits.

Some Hispanics wanted the Census Bureau to identify them as a race and not as an ethnic origin, and to replace the term "Hispanic" with "Latino." They asserted that "Hispanic" recalls the colonization of Latin America by Spain and Portugal and has become as offensive as the term "Negro" is for African-Americans. When Hispanics were surveyed, however, the results showed they preferred to be identified by their families' country of origin, such as Puerto Rican, Colombian, Cuban, or even just American.

A number of African-Americans wanted the Census Bureau to retire the term "Black." Nevertheless, there was some difference of opinion. People from the Caribbean, for example, preferred to be labeled by their families' country of origin, such as Jamaican or Haitian American. Africans who are not American also find the term inaccurate. Although "African-American" has become more prominent in spoken English in recent years, lack of agreement and the length of the term have been significant factors in preventing its adoption by the government.

TABLE 1.1
Profile of general demographic characteristics, 2000

Subject	Number	Percent	Subject	Number	Percent
Total population	281,421,906	100.0	Hispanic or Latino and race
			Total population	281,421,906	100.0
Sex and age			Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	35,305,818	12.5
Male	138,053,563	49.1	Mexican	20,640,711	7.3
Female	143,368,343	50.9	Puerto Rican	3,406,178	1.2
			Cuban	1,241,685	0.4
Under 5 years	19,175,798	6.8	Other Hispanic or Latino	10,017,244	3.6
5 to 9 years	20,549,505	7.3	Not Hispanic or Latino	246,116,088	87.5
10 to 14 years	20,528,072	7.3	White alone	194,552,774	69.1
15 to 19 years	20,219,890	7.2
20 to 24 years	18,964,001	6.7	Relationship
25 to 34 years	39,891,724	14.2	Total population	281,421,906	100.0
35 to 44 years	45,148,527	16.0	In households	273,643,273	97.2
45 to 54 years	37,677,952	13.4	Householder	105,480,101	37.5
55 to 59 years	13,469,237	4.8	Spouse	54,493,232	19.4
60 to 64 years	10,805,447	3.8	Child	83,393,392	29.6
65 to 74 years	18,390,986	6.5	Own child under 18 years	64,494,637	22.9
75 to 84 years	12,361,180	4.4	Other relatives	15,684,318	5.6
85 years and over	4,239,587	1.5	Under 18 years	6,042,435	2.1
Median age (years)	35.3	(X)	Nonrelatives	14,592,230	5.2
			Unmarried partner	5,475,768	1.9
18 years and over	209,128,094	74.3	In group quarters	7,778,633	2.8
Male	100,994,367	35.9	Institutionalized population	4,059,039	1.4
Female	108,133,727	38.4	Noninstitutionalized population	3,719,594	1.3
21 years and over	196,899,193	70.0
62 years and over	41,256,029	14.7	Household by type
65 years and over	34,991,753	12.4	Total households	105,480,101	100.0
Male	14,409,625	5.1	Family households (families)	71,787,347	68.1
Female	20,582,128	7.3	With own children under 18 years	34,588,368	32.8
			Married-couple family	54,493,232	51.7
Race			With own children under 18 years	24,835,505	23.5
One race	274,595,678	97.6	Female householder, no husband present	12,900,103	12.2
White	211,460,626	75.1	With own children under 18 years	7,561,874	7.2
Black or African American	34,658,190	12.3	Nonfamily households	33,692,754	31.9
American Indian and Alaska Native	2,475,956	0.9	Householder living alone	27,230,075	25.8
Asian	10,242,998	3.6	Householder 65 years and over	9,722,857	9.2
Asian Indian	1,678,765	0.6
Chinese	2,432,585	0.9	Households with individuals under 18 years	38,022,115	36.0
Filipino	1,850,314	0.7	Households with individuals 65 years and over	24,672,708	23.4
Japanese	796,700	0.3
Korean	1,076,872	0.4	Average household size	2.59	(X)
Vietnamese	1,122,528	0.4	Average family size	3.14	(X)
Other Asian1	1,285,234	0.5
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	398,835	0.1	Housing occupancy
Native Hawaiian	140,652	–	Total housing units	115,904,641	100.0
Guamanian or Chamorro	58,240	–	Occupied housing units	105,480,101	91.0
Samoan	91,029	–	Vacant housing units	10,424,540	9.0
Other Pacific Islander2	108,914	–	For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use
Some other race	15,359,073	5.5		3,578,718	3.1
Two or more races	6,826,228	2.4
			Homeowner vacancy rate (percent)	1.7	(X)
			Rental vacancy rate (percent)	6.8	(X)
Race alone or in combination with one or more other races:3			Housing tenure
White	216,930,975	77.1	Occupied housing units	105,480,101	100.0
Black or African American	36,419,434	12.9	Owner-occupied housing units	69,815,753	66.2
American Indian and Alaska Native	4,119,301	1.5	Renter-occupied housing units	35,664,348	33.8
Asian	11,898,828	4.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	874,414	0.3	Average household size of owner-occupied units	2.69	(X)
Some other race	18,521,486	6.6	Average household size of renter-occupied units	2.40	(X)
–Represents zero or rounds to zero. (X) Not applicable.
1Other Asian alone, or two or more Asian categories.
2Other Pacific Islander alone, or two or more Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories.
3In combination with one or more of the other races listed. The six numbers may add to more than the total population and the six percentages may add to more than 100 percent because individuals may report more than one race.
SOURCE: "Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000, Geographic Area: United States," in Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, May 2001

Census 2000

In October 1997 the OMB announced the revised standards for collecting and tabulating federal information on race and ethnicity. The OMB expected all surveys to comply with these standards by January 1, 2003.

Conforming to the OMB revised standards, Census 2000 categorized the races into White, Black/African-American/Negro, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and Asian. The Census Bureau also added a sixth category—Some Other Race. In

TABLE 1.2
Projections of the resident population by race, Hispanic origin, and nativity, 2006–10
(Numbers in thousands.)

	July 1, 2006	July 1, 2007	July 1, 2008	July 1, 2009	July 1, 2010
Total
Population	290,152	292,582	295,009	297,436	299,861
Percent of total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Native population	258,917	260,724	262,566	264,444	266,359
Percent of total	89.2	89.1	89.0	88.9	88.8
Foreign-born population	31,235	31,858	32,443	32,991	33,502
Percent of total	10.8	10.9	11.0	11.1	11.2
White
Population	235,751	237,267	238,773	240,274	241,769
Percent of total	81.3	81.1	80.9	80.8	80.6
Native population	216,089	217,284	218,501	219,743	221,012
Percent of group	91.7	91.6	91.5	91.5	91.4
Foreign-born population	19,661	19,982	20,272	20,530	20,757
Percent of group	8.3	8.4	8.5	8.5	8.6
Black
Population	38,084	38,553	39,026	39,503	39,982
Percent of total	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.3	13.3
Native population	34,816	35,193	35,576	35,967	36,362
Percent of group	91.4	91.3	91.2	91.0	90.9
Foreign-born population	3,267	3,360	3,450	3,536	3,619
Percent of group	8.6	8.7	8.8	9.0	9.1
American Indian
Population	2,664	2,703	2,742	2,782	2,821
Percent of total	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9
Native population	2,464	2,498	2,532	2,566	2,601
Percent of group	92.5	92.4	92.3	92.3	92.2
Foreign-born population	199	205	210	215	219
Percent of group	7.5	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.8
Asian and Pacific Islander
Population	13,653	14,058	14,465	14,875	15,288
Percent of total	4.7	4.8	4.9	5.0	5.1
Native population	5,546	5,748	5,955	6,167	6,383
Percent of group	40.6	40.9	41.2	41.5	41.8
Foreign-born population	8,107	8,309	8,510	8,708	8,905
Percent of group	59.4	59.1	58.8	58.5	58.2
Hispanic
Population	39,307	40,416	41,515	42,606	43,687
Percent of total	13.5	13.8	14.1	14.3	14.6
Native population	25,612	26,450	27,304	28,177	29,067
Percent of group	65.2	65.4	65.8	66.1	66.5
Foreign-born population	13,694	13,966	14,210	14,428	14,620
Percent of group	34.8	34.6	34.2	33.9	33.5
White, Non-Hispanic
Population	199,923	200,430	200,936	201,444	201,956
Percent of total	68.9	68.5	68.1	67.7	67.3
Native population	192,643	193,073	193,510	193,957	194,413
Percent of group	96.4	96.3	96.3	96.3	96.3
Foreign-born population	7,280	7,356	7,425	7,487	7,542
Percent of group	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
Black, Non-Hispanic
Population	35,845	36,249	36,657	37,069	37,482
Percent of total	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.5	12.5
Native population	33,446	33,774	34,107	34,447	34,790
Percent of group	93.3	93.2	93.0	92.9	92.8
Foreign-born population	2,398	2,475	2,549	2,621	2,692
Percent of group	6.7	6.8	7.0	7.1	7.2

TABLE 1.2
Projections of the resident population by race, Hispanic origin, and nativity, 2006–10 [CONTINUED]
(Numbers in thousands.)

	July 1, 2006	July 1, 2007	July 1, 2008	July 1, 2009	July 1, 2010
American Indian, Non-Hispanic
Population	2,196	2,221	2,247	2,273	2,299
Percent of total	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Native population	2,140	2,164	2,188	2,213	2,237
Percent of group	97.5	97.4	97.4	97.3	97.3
Foreign-born population	55	57	58	60	61
Percent of group	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7
Asian and Pacific Islander Non-Hispanic
Population	12,879	13,265	13,652	14,043	14,435
Percent of total	4.4	4.5	4.6	4.7	4.8
Native population	5,074	5,262	5,453	5,649	5,850
Percent of group	39.4	39.7	39.9	40.2	40.5
Foreign-born population	7,805	8,003	8,198	8,393	8,585
Percent of group	60.6	60.3	60.1	59.8	59.5
SOURCE: "Table NP-T5-C. Projections of the Resident Population by Race, Hispanic Origin, and Nativity: Middle Series, 2006 to 2010," in National Population Projections, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2000 [Online] http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/natsum-T5.html [Accessed March 1, 2004]

addition, the bureau included two ethnicity categories—Hispanic/Latino and Not Hispanic/Not Latino. To provide an accurate count of multiracial Americans, Census 2000 allowed Americans to select more than one race.

The American Indian/Alaska Native category (which replaced the American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut categories of the 1990 census) had a write-in space for tribal affiliation. The Asian category further listed six specific Asian groups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese), while Pacific Islanders (following the Native Hawaiian category) could choose from Guamanian or Chamorro and Samoan. Persons who chose Other Asian, Other Pacific Islander, or Some Other Race were provided with a write-in area. (See Figure 1.1.) The Hispanic-origin question had a write-in space for subgroups other than the major groups of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican.

Census 2000 identified whites as being anyone having ancestry origins in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.