The Place of Race in the United States Census
Since 1790, the United States Census Bureau has been administering a decennial survey, commonly called the census, to every household in the United States ("1790 Overview"). This survey was established by the Constitution of the United States in Article I Section 2 which requires that a census shall be conducted every ten years and the information collected will be used to apportion taxes and representation in the House of Representatives of Congress among the states. Part of this evaluation of the population includes the collection of racial information. There is an controversy over if the government should collect racial information because race is a social construct; meaning that it has no scientific …show more content…
Moreover, the Census Bureau was debating adding Mexican to the list of options. However, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAS) opposed the addition of this category for many Latinos at this time were attempting to assimilate into the American society and gain citizenship ("Census Counts”). Segregating Mexicans from the white category would cause further difficulty for Latin Americans and set the idea that Mexicans were not American. Due to their protests, the new category was never added. This example proves that race is a social construct because there was an actual debate as to whether or not Mexicans could be considered white. As Desmond and Emirbayer explain in their journal, “You do not come into this world African or European or Asian; rather, this world comes into you… You are not born with a race in the same way you are born with fingers, eyes, and hair. Fingers, eyes, and hair are natural creations, whereas race is a social fabrication” (Desmond and Emirbayer). In the end, Mexicans were considered to be white because of a decision made by the society of the time, not by blood, ancestry, or …show more content…
A social construct whose most significant use through history has been to degrade groups of people and justify inequality based on superficial characteristics. Despite the fact that harmful racial stereotypes prevail today, the collection of racial information has the potential to benefit millions of United States’ citizens. Today, the definition of race has evolved from its 19th century interpretation. Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer, professors of sociology at Harvard University, define race as “a symbolic category, based on phenotype or ancestry and constructed according to specific social and historical contexts, that is misrecognized as a natural category” (Desmond and Emirbayer). Now, race is a category based not only physical characteristics, but the social history of
Since 1790, the United States Census Bureau has been administering a decennial survey, commonly called the census, to every household in the United States ("1790 Overview"). This survey was established by the Constitution of the United States in Article I Section 2 which requires that a census shall be conducted every ten years and the information collected will be used to apportion taxes and representation in the House of Representatives of Congress among the states. Part of this evaluation of the population includes the collection of racial information. There is an controversy over if the government should collect racial information because race is a social construct; meaning that it has no scientific …show more content…
Moreover, the Census Bureau was debating adding Mexican to the list of options. However, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAS) opposed the addition of this category for many Latinos at this time were attempting to assimilate into the American society and gain citizenship ("Census Counts”). Segregating Mexicans from the white category would cause further difficulty for Latin Americans and set the idea that Mexicans were not American. Due to their protests, the new category was never added. This example proves that race is a social construct because there was an actual debate as to whether or not Mexicans could be considered white. As Desmond and Emirbayer explain in their journal, “You do not come into this world African or European or Asian; rather, this world comes into you… You are not born with a race in the same way you are born with fingers, eyes, and hair. Fingers, eyes, and hair are natural creations, whereas race is a social fabrication” (Desmond and Emirbayer). In the end, Mexicans were considered to be white because of a decision made by the society of the time, not by blood, ancestry, or …show more content…
A social construct whose most significant use through history has been to degrade groups of people and justify inequality based on superficial characteristics. Despite the fact that harmful racial stereotypes prevail today, the collection of racial information has the potential to benefit millions of United States’ citizens. Today, the definition of race has evolved from its 19th century interpretation. Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer, professors of sociology at Harvard University, define race as “a symbolic category, based on phenotype or ancestry and constructed according to specific social and historical contexts, that is misrecognized as a natural category” (Desmond and Emirbayer). Now, race is a category based not only physical characteristics, but the social history of