Race, Ethnicity, & Prejudice

Race, paganity, and Prejudice-Online Project At one request in time the U. S. Census delineate someone as a negro if they were one-sixteenth black. That is, if one of your sixteen great-great grandpargonnts was of African descent (and the other xv were of white European descent), you were defined as negro. In Jamaica, large tot believed to be of pure African descent argon described as black. People who are bi-racial are usu in ally described as colored. In Brazil, on that point are even more differentiations of those believed to be of African descent.The point of all this is that our definitions are culture-bound and socially constructed. They are, therefore, not particularly scientific and change over time. This does not mean that course and ethnicity have no real meaning. They have meaning beca office we give them meaning. 1. What method do nosecount enumerators use to classify people according to race? A nosecount enumerator is a soulfulness who collects census data. Be fore 1960, census enumerators were themselves responsible for classifying people according to race. However, in 1960 there was a switch to self-reporting.From this point on, individuals were in control of classifying themselves. It was no longer the census enumerators who classified individuals, but individuals who classified themselves. Census enumerators would average compile the results. 2. Which categories of ethnicity are used by the census bureau? The categories of ethnicity and race used by the census bureau have undergone numerous changes over the years. At first, from 1790 to 1880, the census recorded only color. During this time full stop it was a persons skin color that was of importance and there were three categories discolour, low, and Mulatto.The categories expanded in 1890 and consisted of five gradations Black, Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon, and White. It was in 1900 that the word race actually appeared in the census. The question now asked for each persons color or race. At this time the census used only two categories White and Black. It wasnt until 1950 that the word color was completely dropped and the census only asked for the persons race. In 1960 people were able to classify themselves. Shortly following the census added the class other. In 1977 there were four racial categories established American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and White. Plus there was the Other kin. Also, the census added two ethnicity categories Hispanic origin and Not of Hispanic origin. 3. How have categories changed for the 2000 Census? Since 1977, the racial and ethnic makeup of the country changed significantly. There were no questions as to whether the previous standards still reflected the diversity that was comprise in the United States. So, with that, the categories for the 2000 census were revised.The categories now consisted of American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Native Hawaiian or Other Pa cific Islander and White. The category of Some Other Race is also included. In regards to ethnicity, there are two categories Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino. Aside from changes in the categories, another significant change for the 2000 census is that respondents are allowed to check off multiple race boxes. 4. What problems do you see with the Census definitions? The diversity in our conjunction is increasing.Putting people in categories is becoming more problematic because the categories are arbitrary none of the separates have cleared or unambiguous boundaries. Classifying people into a certain category is restrictive and doesnt take into cast that people classified as Asian and Pacific Islander represent scores of different theme and linguistic backgrounds, and American Indian or Alaska Native includes people from hundreds of different tribal groups (Healey 13). The census definitions are very limiting and they dont do diversity justice. Also, there is still n o post for a number of groups among the categories listed. For example, where should we place Arab Americans and recent immigrants from Africa? (Healey 13). I understand that it is unrealistic to have a category for every single group, but we should realize that the definitions used by the census, the classification schemes, have limited proceeds and application. In addition, there is a growing number of mixed-race individuals for whom there are no categories. Although currently that number is relatively small, it is projected to increase rapidly due to a growing number of marriages across group lines.How should those individuals be classified? Sources Healey, Joseph F. (2010). Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. (5th Ed. ). Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. Sweet, open W. (2011, Feb. 25). A Brief History of Census Race. Retrieved from http//knol. google. com/k/a-brief-history-of-census-race U. S. Census Bureau, Po pulation Division. Racial and Ethnic Classifications Used in Census 2000 and Beyond. Retrieved from http//www. census. gov/population/www/socdemo/race/racefactcb. html