Why have race code requirements changed?
The race code requirements have changed in CRS5 due to changes to the Federal Standards on data collection on race and ethnicity. Detailed information on this can be found through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Federal Register ( Federal Register, 62 FR 58781 – 58790), and the U.S. Census Bureau. To summarize some key points – “racial and ethnic makeup of the country has changed since 1977, giving rise to the question of whether [the 1977] standards still reflected the diversity of the country’s present population” (U.S. Census Bureau). This led to the “Federal Government’s decision in October 1997 to provide an opportunity for individuals to select one or more races when responding to agency requests for data on race and ethnicity” (OMB, p.5). “Under the 1997 standards, “Hispanic or Latino” is clearly designated as an ethnicity and not as a race. Whether or not an individual is Hispanic or Latino, every effort should be made to ascertain the race or races with which an
