census

[Mark Wright AIA]

Howdy
A most amusing anecdote:

Yesterday afternoon I was over at the bi-leonate New York Public
Library, using the microform facilities to research one of John Russell
Pope's old houses.  A dandy in a good mood, I cut quite a figure in my
gray seersucker and an assertive, fritillarial bow tie. I love using
this library. It smells wonderful, and makes me feel good. They've been
doing a lot of work on the facilities over the last few years, and this
microform room (#100) was recently opened, or so I gather.  On leaving
I was stopped by an intern taking a user survey.  Yes I found what was
needed, Yes the machine worked, Yes people were polite to me, etc. 
Concluding, "for statistical purposes only" I was assured, was the
question

"Do you consider yourself White?"

She looked at me hard. I looked at my hands.  I felt quite
uncomfortable.  I said "I suppose I must. I am very pale, and I am
wearing the costume of my ancestors."

Feeling rather odd about this,
Mark

A true story...


--- Terrance <Lycidas at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> The minimum categories
> for race are now: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian;
> Black or African
> American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and
> White. Instead of
> allowing a multiracial category as was originally suggested
> in public and
> congressional hearings, the OMB adopted the Interagency
> Committee's
> recommendation to allow respondents to select one or more
> races when they
> self-identify. With the OMB's approval, the Census 2000
> questionnaires also include
> a sixth racial category: Some Other Race. There are also two
> minimum categories
> for ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or
> Latino. Hispanics and Latinos
> may be of any race. 
> 
> There are apx. 270, 000,000 people living here. Apx.
> 16,000,000 are black men, but may put this number lower and
> the total population higher, so black men would be around
> 5-6%.


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