Photo: Elder at Suscol 22nd Intertribal Powwow 2015, by Sarah Stierch, Wikimedia Commons
Some of the biggest changes were announced earlier in May 2024. There are seven minimum categories:
1. American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN)
2. Asian Alone or in Combination
3. Black or African American
4. Hispanic or Latino
5. Middle Eastern and North African (MENA)
6. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
7. White
The new Census and American Community Survey (ACS) forms allow respondents to add more specific detail to the category they choose for themselves, such as “German” in the White category; or “Jamaican” in the Black category.
Native Americans will be able to identify themselves as AIAN, and also by their specific tribe, which has been allowed since 2010. American Indians no longer need to prove they “maintain tribal affiliation,” a requirement dating from 1890 to exclude people who were also classified as “negro.” This last change was supported by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).
Screenshot of Census Hearing on YouTube
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which determines the categories, has created a long list of codes for various ethnic combinations. Many of these codes reflect combinations of Latinos and AIAN (American Indian). For example, there is a specific code for an American Indian from Guatemala, and more codes for American Indians of various countries in Central and South America.
The large number of these codes suggests one thing: the U.S. government wants Latinos to identify their Indigenous roots. However, this works differently for the Central American Garifuna people, who speak an Indigenous language and usually English and Spanish also, are coded as “Afro-Latino,” due to possessing some African ancestry.
One public commenter criticized the proposed coding because the Freedmen people were forced to identify as “Black-African American, which erases their distinct identity and perpetuates the racial caste system.
For now, there is no special code for Americans who identify as American Indian (AIAN) and Black American, but they can check off both those boxes and then write in their tribal heritage, as was true since 2010. Nor is there a separate category for Black Americans who identify with their centuries-long experience in the United State, as opposed to a less specific category of "Black."
Sources:
Public Comment No. USBC-2024-0020-0078, received August 11, 2024, Comment on FR Doc#2024-15336 at Regulations.gov, posted on August 19, 2024
Alli Coritz, Senior Analyst, Racial Statistic Branch, Rachel Marks, Senior Advisor on Race/Ethnicity, “Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census,” from census.gov/newsroom/blogs, November 18, 2024.
“Census Bureau Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Updates to the Census Bureau’s Race/Ethnicity Code List,” Press Release Number: CB24-CN.25, November 18, 2024.
Donna M. Daily, Division Chief, American Community Survey Office and Karen Battle, Division Chief, Population Division, “Implementation of SPD 15 in the American Community Survey,” Census.gov, November 5, 2024.
“The Census Bureau’s Proposed Race Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census,” Posted by the Bureau of the Census on Regulations.gov, November 18, 2024
“Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and Decennial Census Webinar,” U.S Census Bureau YouTube Channel, November 2024.
