US Government Makes Major Changes to Race and Ethnicity Categories
In a significant move, the US government is overhauling how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity for the first time in 27 years. The revisions are aimed at more accurately counting residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage.
One of the key changes includes combining race and ethnicity questions into a single question, allowing respondents to choose multiple categories. Additionally, a Middle Eastern and North African category will be added to the choices available.
The revisions also remove pejorative terms and encourage detailed data collection to better reflect the nation’s diversity. This shift has far-reaching implications for legislative redistricting, civil rights laws, health statistics, and politics.
Federal agencies will have 18 months to implement these changes. However, not all groups are on board with the revisions. Some fear that the changes could reduce their representation in the data.
In a controversial move, some groups like Armenians or Arabs from Sudan and Somalia were not included in the examples used to define people of Middle Eastern or North African background. Critics argue that this oversight could lead to undercounting certain populations.
Overall, the new categorization system is a step towards more inclusive and accurate data collection. However, it remains to be seen how these changes will impact various communities and their representation in government policies and programs. Stay tuned for more updates on this evolving story.
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