Simoncppard
The Growing Diversity Of Black America
The diversity of the Black populace within the United States is remarkable. The majority of its members are descendants of enslaved people, while others have recently arrived as immigrants. Blacks also have nuanced identity and ethnic identities which reflect inter-married and international movement. This means that there are distinct differences in the demographic and economic traits among different segments of the national Black population, which highlights its diversity of origins.
The U.S. Black population is also growing. In 2019, 46.8 million people in the U.S. identified their race as Black, either alone or in a multiracial or ethnic group. It's an increase of 36.2 million over 2000. The Black share of the U.S. population is higher now than it was in 2000 as well. In 2019, 14% of the population declared themselves to be Black, compared with 13 percent in 2000.
However it is also evident that the black museums people's self-identification with their race is changing. When it comes to those who identify themselves as "Black or African American," the proportion of those who claim that it is their sole racial or ethnic self-identification has decreased in the past two decades. Around 40.7 million, or 87%, identified themselves as Black only and their ethnicity was not Hispanic. Meanwhile, 3.7 million (8%) declared that they were Black and other races, mostly White, and not Hispanic. Another 2.4 million (5 percent) self-identified themselves as Black and Hispanic or Black Hispanic.2 However, these numbers have fluctuated over time. Then, 93% identified their ethnicity and race as Black alone.
The nation's Black population is also changing in other ways, too. An increasing number of Blacks have been born abroad, and the population is ageing (though some segments are much younger). A growing number of Blacks are college educated. These and other trends are discussed in this report. The report is accompanied by a facts sheet that details the demographics and economic characteristics of the nation's Black population in 2019, from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. The separate findings for all Black individuals, non-Hispanic single-race Black individuals and Black Hispanics can be found. A downloadable spreadsheet of findings is also available.
The measurement of ethnic or racial identity
The U.S. census decennial has demonstrated that racial identity has changed throughout time. The census has changed dramatically since its first administration in 1790. In the beginning, only two race categories were considered that was slaves and free. Based on current political trends and sensibilities, the Census Bureau has changed the terminology used to define people with different races throughout the decades. For instance, during the 2020 census, those who chose "Black or African American" as their race were asked to provide more details about their roots, indicating a more nuanced understanding of Black ethnicity.
The decennial census data of today and American Community Survey data are taken in a different manner from the way they were in the past for most of America's history. Respondents select their individual racial response categories. This wasn't the case for over 100 years of censuses. Prior to 1960, a census-taker was an employee of the Census Bureau who took the survey on paper and then chose the racial category for each person. In 1960, however, from that point onwards there was a possibility for respondents to self-identify, or chose their own racial classification. Self-identification was expanded in subsequent censuses, which included nearly all respondents. In addition, the census of 1980 included information from the entire population on Hispanic and Latino ethnic identity. Before 2000, respondents could only pick only one racial category.
It is vital to understand that self-identification based on race or ethnicity can be highly personal and may change depending on the way one perceives their identity. A study of the 168 million census forms from America between 2000 between 2000 and 2010, which comprised the total of 10 million people, revealed that 10 million Americans identified their ethnic or racial origins in different ways on the census forms. Multiracial Americans were the most likely to change their racial identity between the year of the census.
