Having watched part of the documentary, "Black in Latin America," I found myself wondering about racial identity within Latin America. The people in Latin America define their race using old words from the time of the caste system, and I found myself thinking about the census that our class looked at earlier on in the semester. Most of the words used to describe race in Latin America wouldn't be found in the census. My thinking on the census took two paths. I wondered, if the census were expanded to include more precise race definitions would anyone feel this to be beneficial? Would anyone feel any more of an identity? Or is race entirely unnecessary in the census? Why does the American government need information about the race of the inhabitants of the United States? The information from the census is apparently used mostly by governments to make decisions about economics, social policies, laws and regulations. Why should race be collected then in the census? Shouldn't the census leave out questions about race and focus on questions about money and income and such things? It seems to me that these race questions have no purpose in the census beyond allowing people to express some form of identity on a government document, which is unnecessary.
The debate over whether race still matters in the United States is an interesting one. The US government collects data on race to keep track of demographic trends and to better focus spending on social programs. Even so, some argue that race is becoming an antiquated term whose relevance has passed.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post!