Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality

This article is a critical review of racial and ethnic categories on the U.S. Census with a focus on how the census categories affect opportunities to track racial and ethnic inequality. The authors summarize how motivations behind the census categories changed from a historical basis in controlling people of color and protecting Whiteness toward a contemporary orientation around equity. Yet, many issues remain that confound the racial and ethnic census data, which are then used in research. A look at these issues and possible changes for the upcoming 2020 census serves as a critical reminder of the limitations of the census data. Taking this information into account, the authors conclude with comments and suggestions on the principles underlying racial and ethnic data collection on the census and the implications for tracking inequality.

Conclusion

This chapter summarizes findings from the previous chapters and offers conclusions racial and ethnic inequality, and its causes and consequences, in United States.

International Comparisons and Policy Debates

This chapter discusses how different countries view race and ethnicity, including different approaches to conceptualizing and measuring racial and ethnic groups. It then examines racial and ethnic inequality in various settings—focusing mainly (though note solely) on peer countries of the U.S. in the OECD as well as in Latin America. It ends with a discussion of policy responses to racial and ethnic diversity, including debates about multiculturalism vs. assimilation and about affirmative action. The goal of this chapter is to broaden our understanding of how different contexts shape patterns of racial and ethnic inequality, and thus to provide a global perspective to U.S. conversations about these issues.

Race and Ethnicity and Causes of Inequality

This chapter explores the meaning of the terms “race” and “ethnicity” and discusses how patterns of identification have changes. It also explores various theories on the root causes of racial and ethnic inequality in more detail, including human capital and social capital theories, cultural theories that emphasize differences in norms, values, and behaviors across groups, assimilation theory, which is most important for immigrant groups, and theories that emphasize the role of racism and discrimination by both individuals and social institutions.