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Census
changes
could
make
whites
less
than 50
percent
a lot
sooner
By
Russell
Contreras
Associated
Press
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. -
The
Census
Bureau
is
considering
changes
to its
race and
ethnicity
questions
that
would
reclassify
some
minorities
who were
considered
"white"
in the
past, a
move
that may
speed up
the date
when
America's
white
population
falls
below 50
percent.
Census
Director
John
Thompson
told The
Associated
Press
this
week
that the
bureau
is
testing
a number
of new
questions
and may
combine
its race
and
ethnicity
questions
into one
category
for the
2020
census.
That
would
allow
respondents
to
choose
multiple
races.
The
possible
changes
include
allowing
Latinos
to give
more
details
about
their
ethnic
backgrounds
and
creating
a new,
distinct
category
for
people
of
Middle
Eastern
and
North
African
descent.
"We
haven't
made any
decisions
yet,"
Thompson
said in
an
interview
before
his
meeting
Tuesday
with
American
Indian
leaders
in New
Mexico.
"But I
don't
think
these
new
questions
would
diminish
anything.
It would
just
give us
more
information
about
our
diverse
populations."
William
H. Frey,
a
demographer
with the
Brookings
Institution's
Metropolitan
Policy
Program,
says the
proposed
changes
would
grant
residents
more
freedom
to
define
their
race and
ethnicity.
"I don't
know if
this
will
make a
huge
difference
in the
2020
census
on
whites
becoming
the
minority,
but it
could
later,"
said
Frey,
author
of
"Diversity
Explosion:
How New
Racial
Demographics
are
Remaking
America."
In the
past,
"white"
was the
only
racial
option
available
to
Arab-American
respondents,
a
classification
that
didn't
truly
reflect
their
social
standing
and hurt
efforts
for
their
political
empowerment
in
post-Sept.
11
America,
said
Samer
Khalaf,
president
of the
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination
Committee.
"If you
are
going to
classify
me as
white,
then
treat
(me) as
white,"
Khalaf
said.
"Especially
when I
go to
the
airport.
So yeah,
it's
inaccurate."
For
years,
many
U.S.
Latinos
also
checked
the
"white"
box
because
options
were
limited,
said
Lorenzo
Cano,
associate
director
of the
Center
of
Mexican
American
Studies
at the
University
of
Houston.
But many
Latinos
are now
opting
to check
"American
Indian"
to
identify
with
their
links to
indigenous
populations
in Latin
America.
Overall,
"these
changes
could
reduce
the
number
of
people
who
identify
as
white,"
Cano
said.
The
Census
Bureau
has
estimated
that the
country's
population
will
have
more
minorities
than
whites
for the
first
time
around
2043 or
2044, a
result
of
higher
birth
rates
among
Hispanics
and a
stagnating
or
declining
birth
rate
among
blacks,
whites
and
Asians.
How much
the
changes
could
speed up
the
moment
when
minorities
will
outnumber
whites
is
anyone's
guess.
Analysts
would
first
have to
examine
the new
data -
some of
which
won't be
comparable
to 2010
because
of the
possible
new
categories,
Frey
said.
The
proposed
changes
could
present
a new
set of
challenges
for the
Census
Bureau.
For
example,
Dee Ann
Alexander,
a census
tribal
specialist,
said
Mexican-Americans
who
check
the
"American
Indian"
box
could
deter
efforts
to get
an
accurate
count of
enrolled
tribal
members
living
in
cities.
"It's a
concern,"
Alexander
said.
"Around
74
percent
of
Native
Americans
live in
urban
areas,
and it's
a
challenge
to
search
for that
population."
In
addition,
an
aggressive
push by
the
census
to
include
Arab-Americans
in the
count
might
lead to
more
suspicion
because
many of
them
fear the
federal
government,
Khalaf
said.
"They
think it
will put
them
under
surveillance,"
he said.
"They
won't
fill
(the
census)
out
because
they
don't
want to
be on
any
list."
Still,
such new
questions
could
give a
more
accurate
assessment
of a
changing
America
at a
time
when 15
percent
of all
marriages
involve
couples
of
difference
races,
Frey
said.
"And who
knows
how
their
children
will
identify,"
he said.
Cano
said he
can see
some in
the
country
becoming
alarmed
at the
rapid
changes,
although
it will
subside
eventually
as
groups
continue
to
intermarry.
"Like we
always
do,
we'll
keep
moving
on,"
Cano
said,
"and let
love
take
place."
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