Race & Ethnicity

data essayNov 3, 2025

Census takers in 1800 were provided a standard questionnaire, but how they collected and organized information was up to them, as shown in this tally of Ohio residents. (U.S. Census Bureau)

How the U.S. government measures race has changed substantially since censuses began in 1790. Today, Americans differ on whether the government should ask about race.

reportMay 20, 2025

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reportAug 19, 2010

Many Say Coverage of the Poor and Minorities Is Too Negative

Pluralities say that coverage of poor people and Muslims is too negative, while somewhat smaller percentages say the same about coverage of blacks and Hispanics. About a third say that coverage of wealthy people is too positive — the highest percentage for any group tested.
reportAug 12, 2010

Problems associated with surveying small demographic groups

Why doesn’t Pew Internet report findings for Asians, Pacific Islanders or other groups as part of its standard demographic variables?
reportJul 28, 2010

The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born versus The Foreign Born

Native-born Latinos are more likely than their foreign-born counterparts to go online and to use cell phones, according to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center.
reportJul 28, 2010

How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age

When it comes to socializing and communicating with friends, young Latinos (ages 16 to 25) make extensive use of mobile technology. Half say they text message (50%) their friends daily, and 45% say they talk daily with friends on a cell phone.
reportJul 27, 2010

Media, Race and Obama’s First Year

As a group, African Americans attracted relatively little attention in the U.S. mainstream news media during the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency — and what coverage there was tended to focus more on specific episodes than on examining how broader issues and trends affected the lives of blacks generally.
reportJul 26, 2010

Media, Race and Obama’s First Year

The fallout from the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod and the one-year anniversary of the controversial arrest of African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have put race back in the news. How much coverage do African Americans receive? What role did race play in coverage of the Obama Administration? A new study examining media coverage of African Americans in the first year of the Obama presidency offers answers.
reportJul 13, 2010

Former Census Director: Rewrite Race Question

Many Americans were puzzled or irritated by the questions about race and Hispanic ethnicity on the 2010 Census form.
reportJun 16, 2010

Minorities and the Recession-Era College Enrollment Boom

The recession-era boom in the size of freshman classes at four-year colleges, community colleges and trade schools has been driven largely by a sharp increase in minority student enrollment.
reportJun 4, 2010

Intermarriage: Trends and Attitudes

Rates of intermarriage have risen in the United States, but trends differ markedly for different race and ethnic groups, according to a new Pew Research Center report that makes extensive use of U.S. Census Bureau data.
reportJun 4, 2010

One-in-Seven New U.S. Marriages is Interracial or Interethnic

This dramatic increase has been driven in part by the weakening of longstanding cultural taboos against intermarriage and in part by a large, multi-decade wave of immigrants from Latin America and Asia.

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Race & Ethnicity

Counting Race: How the Census Measures Identity and What Americans Think About It

How Much Discrimination Do Americans Say Groups Face in the U.S.?

Key facts about U.S. Latinos

How Americans feel about making English the official language of the U.S.

Race & Ethnicity

Many Say Coverage of the Poor and Minorities Is Too Negative

Problems associated with surveying small demographic groups

The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born versus The Foreign Born

How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age

Media, Race and Obama’s First Year

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