The Conversation: The Census and Race
Bill Weir and NPR's Shereen Meraji on the trouble with race and checkboxes.
April 2, 2010— -- As Americans pick up their pencils to fill out the 2010 Census, some are finding it tough to answer the form's questions on race. Hispanics in particular say they're having a hard time determining what to write in. The form specifies that "Hispanic" is not a race, but many Hispanic people don't identify as either "white" or "black."
Furthermore, what's the difference between race, ethnicity, and nationality? The form has checkboxes for "Japanese" and "Korean" as races, but many other countries are left off the list.
NPR producer Shereen Meraji has been examining the Census questions on race. With a Puerto Rican mother and an Iranian father, she calls herself a "Puerto-Ranian," and there's definitely no checkbox for that.
What does Meraji think about this year's Census and how could it better reflect race in the future? She talks with ABC's Bill Weir in today's Conversation.
