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Race, Ethnicity & Faith

What will the race and ethnicity questions look like on the Census 2010 form?

How should Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders answer these questions?
The person filling out the form should check the box next to the category that they believe represents their race.  While there is only one check box for White, Black and American Indian or Alaska Native respectively, there are numerous check boxes for some Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups, with six check boxes for specific Asian subgroups and three check boxes for specific Pacific Islander subgroups.  These checkboxes include: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro and Samoan.

If you identify with a different group, you should check the box for “Other Asian” or “Other Pacific Islanders” and write-in the race you identify with.  For example, if you are Thai, you would check the box for “Other Asian” and write-in “Thai” in the space provided on the form.

Census Bureau Definitions on Race

• The Census Bureau defines “Asian” as referring to people having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asian, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• The Census Bureau defines “Native Hawaiian” and “Pacific Islander” as people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro and Samoan.

Are you able to indicate that you are multiracial?
You are able to check more than one category in these questions, allowing multiracial persons to identify themselves as multiracial.  Because of the increasing diversity in the American population, the Census Bureau in 2000 decided to allow respondents to check all the boxes that they felt applied to their racial identity.  This allows, for example, a person who has a White parent and a Bangladeshi parent to check both the White box and the Other Asian box with a Bangladeshi write-in.  

Does it matter who fills out the Census 2010 form as head of household?
Households with adults of different races may wish to give some consideration to which adult fills out the census form. That person, who is classified as the “householder,” describes other residents of the household in relation to himself or herself. For example, if a household consists of one Native Hawaiian and one white adult and their two children, the decision about which adult to list as the "head of household” will determine whether or not that family is classified as a minority household. This could have implications for research on the characteristics and progress of families of color.

What about people who think of themselves as Sikh/Muslim or some other faith affiliation and not as a particular ethnic or racial category?  What happens if they report their faith affiliation in response to the race question?
If a person writes in a faith affiliation for either the race or ethnicity questions, the Census Bureau would have to recode the person as one of the existing racial categories.  Thus, in the case where a person writes in Sikh or Muslim, the Census Bureau would go through a series of statistical methodological exercises to determine what race that person should belong to.  It is better to self-report one’s race than to have the Census Bureau make its best guess as to what race you are.

Can I report my faith affiliation anywhere on the Census 2010 form?
Although faith affiliation can be a component of identity, none of the questions on the Census 2010 form or other surveys are designed to collect information about religion/faith.  The U.S. Census Bureau is prohibited by law (Public Law 94-521) from asking a question on faith affiliation on a mandatory basis.  Because participation in the 2010 census is mandatory, the Census 2010 form does not ask about faith affiliation.  Thus, faith affiliation should not be reported in the 2010 Census.  The Census Bureau has stated that it does not tabulate or use religion or faith responses in any way.

Will my answer be safe and protected?
By law, all of the individual answers given on the Census are confidential.  Responses and information cannot be shared with any person or any government agency, such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).