The White House this week announced new standards for collecting federal data on race and ethnicity, a decision that will affect organizations that receive federal funding, including how Congressional districts are allocated and the Equal Employment Opportunity It will determine whether the policy can be implemented.
White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards, revised for the first time since 1997, require federal agencies to use one composite question on race and ethnicity, requiring respondents to identify as Middle Eastern. We encourage you to choose multiple options for how you want to add your content. or North Africa as a new identification category.
The move underscores the government’s attempt to catch up with contemporary views on racial and ethnic identity in the United States, and how federal officials are trying to grasp the complexities of an increasingly multiracial nation. It shows whether there are any.
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The data they collect is expected to have far-reaching implications for enforcement of the U.S. Census, Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing Act, and other anti-discrimination laws.
“What we’re really focused on here is how do we ensure quality federal data on race and ethnicity,” said a senior OMB official.
The official added that the new standards will identify different impacts on “individuals, programs and services, health outcomes, employment outcomes, educational outcomes…”
This movement seeks to capture the complexity of a country that is becoming increasingly multiethnic.Photo: Shutterstock
The official declined to specify which federal programs this would affect.
The standard was first proposed under former President Barack Obama but then delayed under the Trump administration.
Since 1997, the U.S. government has standardized definitions for terms such as “white,” “black,” and “Hispanic,” which have remained unchanged since. This established the standard for federal surveys that ask people to self-report their racial and ethnic identity.
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President Biden’s new standards require federal agencies to update their investigations and administrative documents, submit compliance plans within 18 months, and comply with updated standards within five years.
Officials said the decision was based on the findings of a task force made up of officials from 35 federal agencies, more than 20,000 public comments and 94 hearing sessions.
The new standard does not affect slavery repayment or reparation issues. More research is needed to collect data from Black Americans to identify descendants of enslaved people, officials said.
