In past decades, race and ethnicity could more easily be boiled down to black and white.
Things were never that simple, of course, but people could accept the easily understood simplification without thinking about the evolution in who makes up the fabric of American society.
Americaâs changing demographics â and changes in the ways the Census allows individuals to choose to describe their race and ethnicity â paint a more subtle and diverse mosaic. For the past 20 years, the Census has allowed people to self-identify as being of more than one race.
The nationâs white majority isnât disappearing. Instead, more and more Americans who consider themselves white, and many who consider themselves black, are checking the box âtwo or more races,â as allowed by the Census.