"I'm not black and I'm not white; we don't define ourselves that way,"
said Ms. Mendez, a 25-year-old hair stylist who has lived in the United
States for nine years. "So I would choose 'some other race.' '' But now
census officials are hoping to eliminate the option from the 2010
questionnaire in an effort to encourage Hispanics to choose one or more
of five standard racial categories: white, black, Asian, American
Indian or Alaska native, or a category that includes natives of Hawaii
and the Pacific Islands. Over the last three decades, the number of
Hispanics choosing "some other race" has surged rapidly, making it the
Census Bureau's fastest growing racial category. Census officials say
the proposed change, which is expected to remain under consideration
until 2006, would improve the accuracy of the nation's racial data
because federal agencies typically rely on data from the standard
racial groups to make statistical calculations about race. The proposal
to eliminate the category, which was used almost exclusively by
Hispanics in the 2000 census, has stirred a furious debate among
Hispanic advocacy groups, statisticians and officials over how the
nation's largest minority group should be defined racially. If
approved, the shift would be the first time since 1940 that officials
have eliminated a racial category from the census, Census Bureau
officials say. [more ]
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