Census gives racial data

By Susan Luth

Daily Staff Reporter

Researchers and community members gathered yesterday afternoon to discuss the implications of racial data collected in the recent 2000 U.S. Census. The discussion also celebrated civil rights and marked activist Martin Luther King Jr.'s 72nd birthday.

U.S. Rep. Tom Sawyer (D-Ohio), who oversaw the 1990 census, was the first of four speakers. Sawyer presented an analysis of that census to show flaws in the process and where improvements have been made.

"Race touches on something that defines our country - who we are, who we've been and who we are becoming," he said.

"When people check that race box (on the census) they are trying to tell us something. What are they trying to tell us?" asked Princeton University sociology graduate student Ann Morning. "Are they trying to tell us about their parents, their grandparents, their communities?"

University Sociology Prof. David Harris provided some answers to her question. He said that people's perceptions of race differ. Harris said "race is a three dimensional concept" in which people can judge their race based on genotype, phenotype and culture.

"There's a mixed perspective," Harris said. "It's based on what a person considers himself or herself to be. What we get from everybody is a lot of variability because we're unclear."

Kim Williams, assistant professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, attempted to answer the question of what guidelines were made for the revision of the race question on the 2000 Census.