“Discrimination is more about how you’re seen by others than how you see yourself.” |
The census, though, operates under the premise that people will identify themselves in the same way as those in their society see them. For instance, a person like Salvador will check “black.” When a person’s view of their own race aligns with that of the broader society, the race data can point to areas of inequality and potential discrimination.
But people who don’t identify with the census race boxes may check a box that doesn’t reflect how society sees them. Or they may skip the question or fail to return the form, resulting in undercounts, and the race data stop working as intended.
“Discrimination is more about how you’re seen by others than how you see yourself,” [Wendy] Roth says.
Sujata Gupta, “To fight discrimination, the U.S. census needs a different race question,” Science News: Independent Journalism Since 1921, March 8, 2020. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/census-2020-race-ethnicity-questions.
Tags: Science News, Science News: Independent Journalism Since 1921, Sujata Gupta, Wendy D. Roth, Wendy Roth