Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) Profile picture
Aug 22, 2021 10 tweets 6 min read Read on X
The recent media coverage about the white population “declining” or “shrinking” was misleading and maybe even dangerous. @nprviz’s Ruth Talbot and I dug into the new U.S. census data. The actual story is more complicated than what you may have read👇
npr.org/2021/08/22/102…
2. The white population is still the largest racial group in the United States. How its size has changed since the 2010 census depends on how you define "white." How The Size Of The U.S. Wh...
3. For decades in the media (including my past reporting for @NPR), a population the Census Bureau calls "White alone non-Hispanic" has become synonymous with *the* white population.

This narrow definition ignores 2 key aspects about how the census produces race/ethnicity data.
4. The 2020 census data about race and ethnicity is based on responses to these two questions, which allow people to identify with more than one racial group and follow federal standards that say Latinos can be of any race. Is this person of Hispanic,...What is this person’s race?...
5. The U.S. is becoming more multiracial, and that is changing who is considered "white" The Census Bureau has to fo...Richard Alba, a sociologist...Nowadays, some people who o...
6. Maybe you read somewhere the number of white people supposedly “fell” for the “first” since 1790 according to 2020 census data?

Well, I hope you’ve also read warnings from the Census Bureau and @AnnJMorning about using caution when comparing 2020 race data with earlier data. Some data crunchers have us..."It's true that 'White...The bureau has warned data ...
7. Here’s why many researchers tracking far-right, white racial extremism say a narrative of a “declining” white population can be dangerous Many people tracking far-ri...A narrative of a shrinking ...
8. Many Latinos are reevaluating the "White" box on census forms An almost 53% drop in the n...The 2020 census results als...
9. In the future, white people likely won't be the majority (and neither will any other racial group in the United States) While white people still ma...Morning — the NYU sociologi...Nonetheless, in the coming ...
10. The more you know about how 2020 census data was produced, the clearer picture you’ll have about the data that will be used to redraw voting maps, combat racial discrimination, guide federal funding and inform research and planning for the next 10 years.

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More from @hansilowang

Dec 19, 2023
A controversial Census Bureau proposal could shrink the rate of disability in the U.S. by about 40%. Public comments on this potential change are due Tuesday, Dec. 19, but NPR has confirmed there will be another opportunity to give feedback in the spring…
npr.org/2023/12/18/121…
2. Public comments on these proposed changes to the disability questions on the American Community Survey can be emailed to acso.pra@census.gov. The bureau tells NPR they are set to be published here before the next public comment period in the spring: regulations.gov/document/USBC-…
3. The bureau says the proposed changes are part of a years-long effort to improve the quality of its disability data and standardize the statistics so they're comparable to other countries' numbers
npr.org/2023/12/18/121…
Read 7 tweets
Jan 23, 2023
The Supreme Court could upend how federal elections are run across the U.S. if it adopts even a limited version of a once-fringe idea called the "independent state legislature theory."

I wrote about what could happen after SCOTUS rules on Moore v. Harper:
npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
A Supreme Court ruling that adopts some version of the “independent state legislature theory” could lead to more lawsuits and bring uncertainty to upcoming elections
npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
A Supreme Court ruling that adopts some version of the “independent state legislature theory” could make it easier for state lawmakers to ignore voting rights protected under state law
npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
Read 4 tweets
Oct 18, 2022
I wrote about a push for the U.S. Supreme Court to change who counts as Black in redistricting.

Republican officials in Louisiana want a narrower definition of Blackness that excludes some Black people & could minimize Black voting power around the U.S.
npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
2. A 2003 ruling by SCOTUS after the 2000 census — the first U.S. head count that allowed people to identify with more than one race — set a standard definition of "Black" for voting rights cases focused exclusively on the voting power of Black people.
npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
3. That definition of "Black" has included everyone who identifies as Black for the census — including people who mark the boxes for Black and any other racial/ethnic category such as white, Asian & Hispanic/Latino, which federal gov't says is an ethnicity
npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
Read 11 tweets
Nov 6, 2021
SCOOP: Former President Donald Trump's payroll tax delay last year left a $7 million accounting mess for the Census Bureau, which has been trying to get ~28K former census workers to pay off their debt after giving up trying to collect from ~148K others
npr.org/2021/11/05/104…
2. I deleted this earlier tweet that misstated the number of former 2020 census workers from whom the Census Bureau has decided to stop trying to collect unpaid payroll taxes. That number is 147,619 former workers (not ~178K):
3. The Census Bureau was one of many fed agencies the Trump admin directed last year to stop collecting some employees' share of a payroll tax that helps fund Social Security. Trump said it would get "bigger paychecks for working families.” But it’s also an accounting challenge.
Read 5 tweets
Nov 4, 2021
I asked the office of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. — who blocked an attempt to confirm Census Bureau director nominee Robert Santos by unanimous consent in October — why Scott said he's concerned Santos will “politicize" the bureau & not serve "in a fair and unbiased fashion"...
2. So far, Scott's office has not provided any evidence that would suggest Santos would “politicize” the Census Bureau and “not perform his duties in a fair and unbiased fashion."

Instead, Scott's communications director, McKinley Lewis, gave this statement by email: The Census Bureau performs critically important functions to
3. I am waiting for any direct response to this follow-up question:

Does Sen. Rick Scott consider Robert Santos not qualified or competent to serve as Census Bureau director? If so, why?
Read 4 tweets
Nov 2, 2021
NEW: The 2020 census likely undercounted people of color at rates higher than those of the last count, an @urbaninstitute study finds. That could translate into inequities in political representation & federal funding across the U.S. for the next 10 years
npr.org/2021/11/02/104…
@urbaninstitute 2. Important to note: This @urbaninstitute study is *not* an analysis of 2020 census results & doesn't show actual over/undercounts. The estimates are based on a *simulated* census & a method for measuring accuracy that's different from the Census Bureau's
urban.org/research/publi…
@urbaninstitute 3. Let's also keep in mind: When people of color are undercounted in the census, it's not just "some" groups who miss out on federal funding and political representation — it's *everyone* living in the local communities and states where there are people of color.
Read 5 tweets

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