She Previously Marked 'White' on Census. Now, a Change

For the first time in 27 years, the US government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) heritage. The revisions to the minimum categories on race and ethnicity were announced Thursday by the Office of Management and Budget, per the AP.

• Hispanic residents: Under the revisions, questions about race and ethnicity that previously were asked separately on forms will be combined into a single question. That will give respondents the option to pick multiple categories at the same time, such as "Black," "American Indian," and "Hispanic." Research has shown that large numbers of Hispanic people aren't sure how to answer the race question when that question is asked separately because they understand race and ethnicity to be similar, and they often pick "some other race" or do not answer the question. Some 23 million did so in the 2020 census, notes Axios.

• New category: A "Middle Eastern and North African" category will be added to the choices available for questions about race and ethnicity. People descended from places such as Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, and Syria had been encouraged to identify as white, but now will have the option of identifying themselves in the new group. Results from the 2020 census, which asked respondents to elaborate on their backgrounds, suggest that 3.5 million residents identify as Middle Eastern and North African.
• Welcome move: "It feels good to be seen," said Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando whose parents are from Iran. "Growing up, my family would check the 'white' box because we didn't know what other box reflected our family. Having representation like that, it feels meaningful."
• Gone: The changes also strike from federal forms the words "Negro" and "Far East," now widely regarded as pejorative, as well as the terms "majority" and "minority," because they fail to reflect the nation's complex racial and ethnic diversity, some officials say. The revisions also encourage the collection of detailed race and ethnicity data beyond the minimum standards, such as "Haitian" or "Jamaican" for someone who checks "Black."
• Background: The first federal standards on race and ethnicity were produced in 1977 to provide consistent data across agencies and come up with figures that could help enforce civil rights laws. They were last updated in 1997 when five minimum race categories were delineated—American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and white; respondents could pick more than one race. The minimum ethnic categories were grouped separately as not Hispanic or Hispanic or Latino.

(More US Census stories.)