-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The United States is considering updating racial and ethnic1 categories recognized in the country for the first time since 1997. The government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plans to decide on the new categories next year. It is holding three meetings open to the public this week to discuss the issue.
Supporters of the proposed changes say the new categories will help the government get more exact information about the country's population.
The changes would create a new category for people of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry2, also known by the acronym3 MENA. They are now classified as white but say they have been undercounted. Another change would combine questions about race and ethnicity into one.
With the changes, the government would try to get more detailed4 answers by asking about country of origin.
Besides helping5 to give a picture of the U.S. population, the categories are used to enforce civil rights, voting rights and employment discrimination laws.
The U.S. Census6 Bureau studies the population. It carries out a count every 10 years and collects other information about the country's people. The study includes questions about race and ethnicity and must follow OMB definitions of such.
Currently, it includes five categories of race. They include White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
The most recent Census study was in 2020. The Census Bureau website states that the categories "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country." And the agency notes that "People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture."
Public comments
The OMB has collected more than 4,300 comments about the possible changes.
Shalini Parekh wrote that she wants a way for South Asian people to identify themselves differently than East Asians from places like China or Japan. She said that when these groups are put into only one category, it is harder to identify issues that relate to one group but not another.
Nyhiem Way said he is tired of people mixing the terms African American and Black. He and others want to distinguish descendants of enslaved people from black immigrants from Africa who were not enslaved.
Mixing "African American" with "Black" has "blurred8 what it means to be an African American in this country," he said.
Way works for a pharmaceutical9 company in Athens, Georgia, and spoke10 about the issue in a telephone interview.
However, some people disagree with expanding categories and classifications. They say that could weaken the idea of a single American identity and increase separation between groups.
"By creating and deepening sub-national identities, the government further contributes to the decline of one national American identity," wrote Mike Gonzalez, an expert at The Heritage Foundation, a research and education group based in Washington, D.C. He commented on the OMB web page seeking public opinions on the proposed changes.
Byron Haskins is a retired11 government worker from Lansing, Michigan. He suggests the U.S. stop using racial and ethnic identifications. Haskins says the practice supports the continuation of "deeply rooted unjust" social systems and ideas.
Instead, he said people should be able to identify themselves as they wish.
"You need to search for the truth and not just stay with the old categories because someone decided12, ‘That is what we decided,'" Haskins said.
But Houda Meroueh thinks that having more categories could be helpful. She described herself as a 73-year-old Arab American woman.
"When I go to the doctor's office, I do not feel they have the information necessary to understand my medical history or my culture," she said. "For all these reasons I want to be counted as who I am. Not as white."
Words in This Story
category -n. a classification or grouping with members that share certain characteristics
distinguish -v. to see or understand the difference between two or more things
blur7 -v. to make something appear unclear
interview -n. a discussion where one person asks another person questions, usually for an official purpose
contribute -v. to add to
decline -n. the weakening or diminishing of something
1 ethnic | |
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 ancestry | |
n.祖先,家世 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 acronym | |
n.首字母简略词,简称 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 census | |
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 blur | |
n.模糊不清的事物;vt.使模糊,使看不清楚 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 blurred | |
v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 pharmaceutical | |
adj.药学的,药物的;药用的,药剂师的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|