Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Due Date
Change in Census Race Categories
Introduction
Census race categories have transformed over time. Throughout American history, immigration has added a culture of diversity to the American population. This population entails races from different regions all over who are considered eligible citizens and voters. A study done by Pew Research center has shown that, the voters who are registered and those voters who turn out to vote vary markedly by ethnicity and race (Krieger, 2019). This paper will highlight a comparison between 1790 and 2010 elections, social constructs, and the future census categories.
What census called us in 1790 and 2010
When the census were done the races were recorded under different categories. These category names have been changing with time. At first, the Africans were referred to as the “Colored” then their name category changed to “Blacks” later became the “Negro” and finally “Africa American” in 2020 elections the term “Negro” was replaced by the “Black”. According to Bhowmick and Jain, in 1950, the officials who were in charge of counting people would select the race in which they would count. Later on from 1960, the Americans would select their own race for the census. Then in the year 2000, the Americans would be counted in other racial categories. Pew Research center notes that several decades back all the races were counted and summed under one category.
Race, Ethnicity and Gender are Social Constructs
Race, Ethnicity, and gender are not biological they are social constructs. These three are based on ideas created and manipulated by humans and their social environment. For instance, there are no specific genes that describe the white nor genes that are common with all the black thus race is just a perception (Napierala, & Denton, 2017).
Future census categories
Demographic variation might change the electoral outlook of United in the future. In the past, some states such as Texas were not election battlegrounds, but with cultural diversity and racial changes spread all over, the state might portray heavy competition in the future (Beydoun, 2015).
Conclusion
Demographic shifts are generally having impacts on key battleground states, change in electorate composition affects or determines the electorate outcomes. Also, race, gender, and ethnicity are social constructs because they are not biological they are based on people’s perceptions and prejudice.
Reference
Igielnik, R., & Budiman, A. (2020, September 23). The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Electorate. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org
Bhowmick, s., & Jain, s. us elections.
Krieger, N. (2019). The US Census and the People’s Health: Public Health Engagement From Enslavement and “Indians Not Taxed” to Census Tracts and Health Equity (1790–2018). American Journal of Public Health, 109(8), 1092-1100.
Napierala, J., & Denton, N. (2017). Measuring residential segregation with the ACS: How the margin of error affects the dissimilarity index. Demography, 54(1), 285-309.
Beydoun, K. A. (2015). Boxed In: Reclassification of Arab Americans on the US census as progress or peril. Loy. U. Chi. LJ, 47, 693.