Posted on 01/11/2010 7:30:04 AM PST by Between the Lines
It's a new decade, which means that the U.S. Census Bureau is hard at work getting the nation's more than 300 million residents to fill out a 10-question form that determines how the federal government doles out its money.
But one question is causing some controversy. Specifically question No. 9 asks "What is Person 1's race?" The answer choices are "White; Black, African-American, or Negro; American Indian or Alaska Native."
The Grio reports that many older blacks preferred to be called "Negro." "Some prefer it because of their complexion, whether they're light-skinned or dark," said Jeanne R. Stanley, a retiree in Richmond, Va. "Others still have a slave mentality. There are a lot of people who still have a color complex."
But younger generations are angered by the use of the term.
"I find the word 'Negro' to be quite offensive when it comes to the census and separating and differentiating among races because of the history of the use of the word," said Taryn Anthony, a 25-year old graduate student. "I've yet to hear someone use it in a respectable manner, so placing it on a census seems as yet another way to set back African-Americans."
Added Patrick Riley, a New York television producer, "Well, if the census form authors are going to go so far as to include an the archaic term 'Negro,' why not put 'Colored' on there ... just in case someone hadn't graduated from that word usage."
Census officials said that "Negro" was offered as an option because many people wrote in "Negro" on their 2000 census forms. A spokeswoman added that the questions were "tested ad nauseum" and that including the term "outweighed the negatives."
The Grio writes that in light of the census trying to be inclusive of all U.S. residents this year, the decision to include "Negro" could hamper those efforts. Traditionally Hispanics have been wary of filling out census forms, fearing deportation.
"The biggest obstacle I have is that the Hispanic community is very reluctant to give information to anybody related to the government," Roberto Belen told the Island Packet newspaper . Belen, a native of Puerto Rico, is encouraging Hispanics in South Carolina to turn in their forms. But he said he constantly hears people say of the form, "What is so important that I have to risk my liberty?"
I found some more recent when I was looking up the census as written for 1961 to see if it listed Negro as the race instead of African American or Black (related to Obama’s posted birth certificate).
Taint fair.
They never added a “Texan” box for me!
As I was born in america, I’m a Native American. ask me what tribe, and I’ll tell you “Sosume”..
As I was born in america, I’m a Native American. ask me what tribe, and I’ll tell you “Sosume”..
He’s from Tennessee. He’s carpetbagging..
He’s from Tennessee. He’s carpetbagging..
“America”
Sometime we all should share the horrors of net savers when it comes to putting a kid through college. You’re better off not saving at all, cause it kills your childs chances at getting scholarships.
Being a member of an organization like Girl Scouts can kill your childs chances at the better local scholarships. Why, you ask? Because local school systems try to see to it that every kid who is going on to college gets something. The scholarship for Girl Scouts could be $250. If your child is the only Girl Scout in the school then she gets that. She could have volunteered for and assisted in every thing at her middle school, but that $1,250 scholarship goes to some other kid cause your kid got a scholarship already.
Was that just a sample form or was it filled out with data? On genealogy sites the most recent ones are 1930.
I have not seen the sample from 1961 or others. I wish I could get them more up to date than 1930.
Truthfully I don’t remember because I wasn’t looking for names, just categories.
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