For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget is changing ethnic classifications from 5 to 7 categories. The measure, announced on March 28, will better represent the diversity of the U.S. population.
Since 1997, U.S. residents have been asked to indicate their ethnicity, commonly known as race, by choosing from 5 categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or White.
But now, the addition of the choice “Middle Eastern or North African” will distinguish Arab-American people who were previously advised to identify as white.
“The new Standards will have a lasting impact on communities for generations to come, particularly Arab Americans, whose erasure in federal data collection will finally cease,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute.
In addition, individuals will now be able to fill in several categories at once and specify their ethnic origin. A person ticking the “African-American” box can add being Jamaican, for example, as part of the aim to better understand the growing diversity of the United States.
An outdated system
The updated forms, proposed by Dr. Karin Orvis, Chief U.S. Statistician in the Office of Management and Budget, also bring together race and ethnicity, two previously separate questions.
These two differentiated questions had led to confusion among many Latin Americans, who, lacking a clear option, opted for “Some Other Race” on the form.
As a result, the “Other” category became the country’s second most represented group for the first time in the 2020 population census, indicating the obsolescence of the system used.
From now on, people will be able to tick the “Hispanic or Latin American” box.
A substantial change
The changes must be made to all federal demographic data collections within five years. These classifications are notably used for population censuses, the next of which will occur in 2030.
Census data has long-term implications for health statistics, civil rights laws, federal budget spending allocations, and legislative redistricting.
On a separate note, the number of people identified as white could be set to decline, much to the dismay of proponents of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, based on the belief that there is a conspiracy to diminish the influence of white people.
This includes the idea that the Democratic Party encourages immigration in order to diminish the political power of white people and influence elections. A 2022 poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that about 1 in 3 Americans believe an effort is underway to replace native-born Americans with immigrants for electoral purposes.
