Thursday, January 7, 2010
What's wrong with this picture?
The census form for 2010 features a word more often heard in 1966: Negro.
For most African Americans, the word conjures visions of Jim Crow and segregation - even if the Census Bureau says it's included to ensure an accurate count of the nation's minority residents.
Question No. 9 on this year's census form asks about race, with one of the answers listed as "Black, African-Am., or Negro."
Census Bureau spokesman Jack Martin said the use of "Negro" was intended as a term of inclusion.
"Many older African-Americans or dark skinned Mexicans who can't speak english identified themselves that way, and many still do," he said. "Those who identify themselves as Negroes need to be included."
The form was also approved by Congress more than a year ago, and the word has appeared on past forms.
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I was born in 1968 and Negro is on my birth certificate. So we know what I'm checking.LOL
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