Town Hall – Counting Everyone: The Census Race and Ethnicity Question Debate

The U.S. Census Bureau has collected data on race since the first census in 1790 and on Hispanic or Latino origin since the 1970 Census. How these topics are measured, and statistics on them are collected and coded, has changed nearly every decade throughout the history of the census, reflecting social, political and economic factors. New changes in the census would combine the race and ethnicity question into one. What does that mean for Puerto Ricans and Latinos in the United States who fill out the census? And what does this tell us about the problems and challenges of the questions as posed? Join CENTRO and Michael Rodriguez as the moderator, Jessica Peña and Nicholas Jones, from the U.S. Census Bureau, Isar Godreau, Christina Mora and Nancy Lopez as we explore these questions.

This event is part of the CENTRO 50th Anniversary Celebration! Join us all of 2023 in celebrating 50 years of CENTRO’s work to strengthen, diversify, and reimagine the field of Puerto Rican Studies!

Support our 50th Anniversary here!

Main amp image: Elba Cabrera Papers. Strategies. Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library & Archives, Hunter College, CUNY.