Census Racial Categories Aren T So Black And White Summary

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Race has always been a source of discrimination and tension in this country. A current source of tensions is that mixed race people are not very well represented in the US Census. In the article "Census Racial Categories Aren't So Black and White" by Jill Cowan, she discusses the lack of options for mixed race people on the census. I agree that adding more options will not only improve the accuracy of the census but also be more inclusive of mixed race people. Inclusion is a good thing, but I don't believe it will solve our race related problems as the author suggests.
In her article, Cowan describes the problem of facing mixed race individuals when filling out the census. Cowan reports on the problem of the lack of choices for race on the census. She states that the the choice of “other” not only reduces the accuracy of the census, but it also adds to current focus on racism in the United States. Cowan says that these issues have become more prominent due to the current police brutality against minorities. According to Cowan, after 2000 when the census allowed people to choose more than one race, many …show more content…

As a mixed race individual, I feel the frustration of having to choose only one ethnicity on important paperwork. The rich German culture from my maternal grandmother, and the vibrant mexican history of my paternal grandmother are both parts of my life that I value greatly. The representation of mixed people will not only help soothe some racial tensions in our country, it will also make our census more accurate, and show the “American Melting Pot” we are so proud of. I think that Cowan exaggerates greatly when she compared the current lack of choice on the modern census to the choice during times of slavery. I believe that adding more choices for mixed race individuals is not solving a problem, but simply bettering our understanding of the people in our