Thread by @hansilowang

ICYMI, just checking off the “White” and/or “Black” boxes won’t be enough to answer the race question on the #2020census👇

The #2020census is going to ask white people in the U.S. where they're really from👇
npr.org/2018/02/01/582…

"We can't just be black as African-Americans. We are black from Africa. We are black from the Caribbean. We're black from everywhere," says Niat Amare of @AfricanServices Committee in New York City.

npr.org/2018/03/13/593…

@AfricanServices "Don't make me specify 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," Peter Farnsworth of Brooklyn, NY told me last year.

He said he identifies as "American."

@AfricanServices Elizabeth Grasso's grandparents came from Italy.

"There was discrimination against them when they were younger that ... I'm very lucky to not experience now. But there was a time when Italians weren't considered white."

@AfricanServices "It's nice to be able to add something extra," said Martina Molloy, who finds the "White" box too limiting.

"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."

@AfricanServices Charles Gallagher, a sociologist at @LaSalleUniv, warns #2020census white origins data may not be reliable:

"If you have a population that's been in the U.S. for a very long time & people have been...crossing the ethnic line...people aren't going to have a real accurate record."

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv I spoke with @PainterNell, author of The History of White People, for an earlier story about the #2020census asking about non-Hispanic white origins👇

npr.org/2017/11/30/566…

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell Asking about white origins on the #2020census is "a throwback to the early 20th century when educated...& noneducated Americans thought there was more than one white race," said @PainterNell, referring to when skull measurements were used to determine racial superiority.

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell "Given that white identity operates most easily in the shadows, that is to say it's not queried, I think bringing it out and asking people to dwell on it is a bad idea," @PainterNell told me.

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell "This was done basically through a lens of multiculturalism that allowed whites to embrace their own ancestry, as well as other groups doing the same thing. How it could get used in this climate, I think, is a little different," Charles Gallagher of @LaSalleUniv said.

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell By the way, if you're wondering how you can fit your full family history when describing your non-Hispanic white/back origins, @uscensusbureau will collect up to 200 characters in responses. On #2020census paper forms, you can write into the margins👇

https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/989564338871484417

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell @uscensusbureau The #2020census race/ethnicity question the @uscensusbureau was planning to roll out looked like this👇

apps.npr.org/documents/docu…

@AfricanServices @LaSalleUniv @PainterNell @uscensusbureau But the White House's Office of Management and Budget has been silent on whether they approved this change, so the @uscensusbureau had to move forward with this👇

npr.org/2018/01/26/580…