Every term the Census has used to describe America’s racial and ethnic groups since 1790Posted in Articles, Census/Demographics, History, Media Archive, United States on 2015-11-06 03:01Z by Steven |
Every term the Census has used to describe America’s racial and ethnic groups since 1790
The Washington Post
2015-11-04
Laris Karklis, Deputy Graphics Director
Emily Badger, Urban Policy Writer
 This chart is based on an interactive the Census Bureau published this week tracing the history of these changes, from the proliferation of new racial and ethnic identities (now the government counts Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Guatemalans) through the revision of old ones (“Indians” have become “American Indians”). |
From the moment of the first American census, in 1790, through every decennial census we’ve had since, the categories the U.S. government has used to classify its residents have included the word “white.”
That label has been the lone constant in an ever-evolving checklist of identities that reflect the changing demographics of this country — and the changing language the government has used to define it. In 1790, the three categories available were “free white females and males,” “all other free persons” and “slaves.” By 1830, that last category had splintered into “slaves” and “free colored persons.” By 1890, the census separately counted blacks — now all legally free — as “blacks,” “mulattos,” “quadroons” and “octoroons.”…
Read the entire article here.