Sense 1a of this entry describes the word race as it is most frequently used: to refer to the various groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits, these traits being regarded as common among people of a shared ancestry. This use of race dates to the late 18th century, and was for many years applied in scientific fields such as physical anthropology, with race differentiation being based on such qualities as skin color, hair form, head shape, and particular sets of cranial dimensions. Advances in the field of genetics in the late 20th century determined no biological basis for races in this sense of the word, as all humans alive today share 99.99% of their genetic material. For this reason, the concept of distinct human races today has little scientific standing, and is instead understood as primarily a sociological designation, identifying a group sharing some outward physical characteristics and some commonalities of culture and history.
Race discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features). Color discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of skin color complexion.
The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.
Harassment can include, for example, racial slurs, offensive or derogatory remarks about a person's race or color, or the display of racially-offensive symbols. Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).
An employment policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of race or color, can be illegal if it has a negative impact on the employment of people of a particular race or color and is not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business. For example, a "no-beard" employment policy that applies to all workers without regard to race or national origin may still be unlawful. If a "no-beard" policy is not related to the job and in effect disproportionately harms employment opportunities based on race or national origin, the policy is unlawful.
The U.S. Census Bureau must adhere to the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards on race and ethnicity which guide the Census Bureau in classifying written responses to the race question:
The data on race were derived from answers to the question on race that was asked of individuals in the United States. The Census Bureau collects racial data in accordance with guidelines provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and these data are based on self-identification.
Information on race is required for many Federal programs and is critical in making policy decisions, particularly for civil rights. States use these data to meet legislative redistricting principles. Race data also are used to promote equal employment opportunities and to assess racial disparities in health and environmental risks.
The Census Bureau has a long history of conducting research to improve questions and data on race and ethnicity. Since the 1970s, the Census Bureau has conducted content tests to research and improve the design and function of different questions, including questions on race and ethnicity.
The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership are spearheading the race to a cleaner, safer, healthier and more resilient world. Through our campaigns, Race to Resilience and Race to Zero, we are elevating ambition and mobilizing credible climate action among cities, regions, businesses and investors. Discover our pipeline of events.
To celebrate International Day for Women in Maritime 2024, the Climate Champions with Lloyd Register Foundation interviewed women steering maritime onto a cleaner and fairer future. In this interview, Aide Saucedo Dvila, Technical Officer at the UN International Maritime Organization discusses her work in reducing emissions from international shipping and examining their potential impacts on States.
Race to Resilience partner Initiative 2020 is working with sustainable coconut company, Pomeroon Trading to restore degraded land in Surinmae by planting a coconut seedling nursery and planting hardwood trees across a sprawling 1,200-hectare farm leased from the Surinamese government.
Discover how Race to Resilience partner, 2020 is helping transform agriculture in northern Belize by working with organisations that train farmers in regenerative agroforestry practices, enhancing both environmental health and local livelihoods through sustainable crop and tree production.
Elizabeth Hausler, founder of Race to Resilience partner Build Change, reflects on two decades of pioneering resilient housing solutions worldwide, from retrofitting homes in Haiti to influencing global policy, and setting ambitious goals for the future.
H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, welcomes the new Champion for COP29, H.E. Ms. Nigar Arpadarai, from Azerbaijan. COP29, the UN Climate Change Summit in 2024, will take place in Baku this November.
On this International Day for Biological Diversity, Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion from the COP28 Presidency, reminds us of the urgent need to take action to stop the loss of biodiversity, one of the most significant crises we face.
With five months until COP28, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion from the COP28 Presidency, H.E Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak has told stakeholders at an event in Dubai on Monday they must promote collective climate action.
Medelln, Colombia, joins forces with Race to Resilience partners to combat climate change risks through innovative insurance solutions. Discover how parametric insurance is revolutionizing disaster risk management in the face of climate change.
In the Central African Republic, farmers are wielding agroforestry as a powerful tool to combat climate change. Discover how they are revolutionizing cocoa farming, fostering resilience and cultivating a sustainable, circular economy.
The concept of race has changed over the more than 150 years represented in IPUMS. Currently, the Census Bureau and others consider race to be a sociopolitical construct, not a scientific or anthropological one. Many detailed RACE categories consist of national origin groups. With the exception of the 1970-1990 Puerto Rican censuses, RACE was asked of every person in all years.
Beginning in 2000, the race question changed substantially to allow respondents to report as many races as they felt necessary to describe themselves. In earlier years, only one race response was coded. Beginning in 2020, the Census Bureau updated the questionnaire text, processing, and coding of the race and Hispanic origin questions, resulting in major changes to the distribution of race and Hispanic origin categories. As a result, users should proceed with caution when comparing RACE and HISPAN in 2019-prior samples with 2020-onward samples. See the comparability tab for more details.
IPUMS offers several variables describing the answer(s) to the race question. RACE provides the full detail given by the respondent and/or released by the Census Bureau; it is not always historically compatible (see comparability discussion below). Users primarily interested in historical compatibility should consider using RACHSING. RACHSING codes race and Hispanic origin responses into a simple, historically compatible scheme that includes only federally defined race and Hispanic origin groups. Please note that RACESING, an earlier version of RACHSING, is also available on the IPUMS website.
In addition, specific combinations of major races can be discerned using the following bivariate indicators of whether a particular race group was reported: RACAMIND, RACASIAN, RACBLK, RACOTHER, RACPACIS, and RACWHT. RACNUM indicates the total number of major race groups reported for an individual. The information contained in the bivariate indicators and in RACNUM is integrated into the detailed version of RACE.
Prior to 1960, the census enumerator was responsible for categorizing persons and was not specifically instructed to ask the individual his or her race. In 1970 and later years, an individual's race was reported by someone in the household or group quarters. In the 1990 U.S. census, the 2000 U.S. and Puerto Rican censuses, the ACS, and the PRCS respondents were specifically asked what race the person "considers himself/herself" to be, although such self-description was more or less operative since 1960.
The RACE codes are comparable for 2019 and prior years, with three important exceptions: (1) the residual "other race" category is different each year, (2) there have been fluctuations in the way Hispanics are coded, and (3) multiple-race responses (allowed since 2000) have divided major race groups into different RACE codes. In addition, the level of detail has been increasing. In 2020, the Census Bureau implemented major revisions to the race and Hispanic origin questions, which significantly impacted the comparability of the 2020-onward samples with 2019-prior years (see further explanation below).
In general, Codes and Frequencies for RACE provide information about which categories were not used in a particular year. The 5 percent sample of census 2000, the ACS and the PRCS samples contain less detail than the 1 percent sample of census 2000 (which is shown in the Codes and Frequencies and is used for the small and tiny IPUMS data sets). In the 5 percent sample, the ACS and the PRCS, any category representing fewer than 10,000 people was combined with another category. See 2000 Race Codes for a comparison of the race categories used in the 2000 samples, the ACS and the PRCS.
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