美国国家公共电台 NPR 2020 Census Will Ask White People More About Their Ethnicities

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Census¹ Bureau is making another change to how it asks about race in the U.S. This time it's affecting Caucasians. Those who mark the box for white on the 2020 census will be asked to give more information about what that means about their background. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang explains.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE²: For more than a half century, just answering white has been enough to complete the race question on the census. But in 2020, the Census Bureau says it's going to go deeper and ask non-Hispanic white people to write in their origins. Here are the instructions from a questionnaire the bureau's testing for 2020.

CINDY SPECTOR: Print, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc. OK, that's interesting.

WANG: That was Cindy Spector of Brooklyn, N.Y. She says she checked off the white box on the last census in 2010. But now that the federal government is planning to essentially³ ask white people where they're really from, Spector says she's not sure what to put down.

Where's your family from?

SPECTOR: How far back? (Laughter) Milwaukee, Wis.

WANG: And before that?

SPECTOR: Oh, before that - according to my grandparents, we're Russian and Romanian. But I don't know prior - their parents and their grandparents, etc., where they're from.

WANG: It's a conundrum⁴ that many people marking the census box for black or African-American may have to face too. They'll also be asked to write in their origins. The Census Bureau did not respond to NPR's questions about why these specific changes were made. But the bureau has said previously⁵ that it's received requests for, quote, "more detailed⁶, disaggregated data for our diverse American experiences." And asking about origins on a census is not new. But questions about ancestry⁷ have been presented separately from the race question, which may seem like a minor⁸ technical detail. But for Peter Farnsworth of Brooklyn, this change gets into personal territory.

PETER FARNSWORTH: Don't make me specify⁹ what kind of white. If you want to know my race, that's fine. But I don't need to give you details about what kind of white I identify with.

WANG: Farnsworth says he identifies as American though his family has ties with England, Scotland, Ireland and...

FARNSWORTH: Nobody ever believes me when I say this, but my dad's side of the family has lived in Jamaica for hundreds of years.

WANG: Hundreds of years?

FARNSWORTH: Yeah.

WANG: Elizabeth Grasso, also from Brooklyn, says her ancestors came from Germany and Italy. And being asked to give a more detailed answer about her white identity brings back stories she's heard about her Italian grandparents.

ELIZABETH GRASSO: There was discrimination against them when they were younger that I - you know, I'm very lucky to not experience now. But there was a time when Italians weren't considered white.

WANG: At a recent luncheon¹⁰ for seniors at the New York Irish Center though, many said they support the 2020 census asking white people about their origins, including Martina Molloy of Queens.

MARTINA MOLLOY: I always consider myself Irish first and American second, which may not be the right thing to say in this country. But that's how I feel.

MOLLOY: Molloy helps serve slices of pizza to seniors lined up in front of a wall of historical memorabilia, including an old sign that said help wanted. No Irish need apply. While Malloy is sure about her ancestry, not everyone knows their family history that well. That's why Charles Gallagher, a sociologist¹¹ at La Salle University in Philadelphia who studies white identity, says any 2020 census numbers about white origins may not be reliable.

CHARLES GALLAGHER: If you have a population that's been in the United States for a very long time, and people have been, you know, crossing the ethnic¹² line in dating and marrying, people aren't going to have a real accurate record.

WANG: And he says if you're thinking about mailing out your DNA¹³ for testing, beware. So far the results are not a reliable guide, he says, for how to fill out your census form accurately¹⁴.

Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF KAKI KING'S "KING PIZEL")

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

7 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

10 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

11 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

12 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

13 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

14 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。