United States: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990

All persons.

Race identifies the racial group in which a person identified themself.

In all census years, certain races were specified as choices on the census form, including an "other" category. We can not tell to what degree people "forced" themselves to fit a category if they could not find one that fit them exactly. Users should note what specific categories were detailed on the census schedules.

Race has been self-enumerated since 1960. In 1990, respondents were specifically asked what race they "considered themselves" to be, although such self-description was more or less operative since 1960.

No distinct Hispanic "race" has ever been delineated. Persons of Hispanic origin have been absorbed by the available race choices on the census schedules (or classified among "other races"). The great majority of Hispanics undoubtedly have been classified as White over the years. Persons giving a written response denoting Hispanic origin were classified as white in 1970. For 1980, we classified those persons who did not select one of the specified responses but gave a written response suggesting Hispanic origin ("Spanish write-in") as "White." We also re-coded as "White" anyone in the 1990 "other race" category who identified themselves as being of Hispanic origin. These changes should make the racial categorization of Hispanics fairly consistent.

Race categories in every year include different spelling variations as well as sub-groups or geographic regions subsumed by the category in question. For example, "Chinese" in 1980 contains persons identified as Cantonese, Tibetan, and Chinese American.

The 1970 sample assigned Aleuts and Eskimos in Alaska the same codes used for Hawaiians and Koreans in all other states (the census schedules used in Alaska were different). We substituted distinct codes for each, but Hawaiians and Koreans still can not be distinguished in Alaska, nor can Aleuts and Eskimos outside of Alaska; in each case, they are classified in the "other" category.

Mixed-race responses:

1960 and 1970: Use the race of the father. If the father's race can not be determined, use the first race listed by the person. Note, beginning in 1970 there is no mention of giving priority to the non-white parent's race.

1980 and 1990: Use the race of the mother. If the mother's race can not be determined, use the first race listed by the person.