Race and ethnicity: do you know the difference

The Office of Management and Budget announced it would be combining race and ethnicity questions on all Federal forms, but one UNM scholar says the change could impact the ability to research and understand equity issues ranging from poverty to housing discrimination in the United States. In this episode of It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science (IPNRS), Professor of Sociology Nancy López explains intersectionality in research and how the new federal question format could complicate things in a major way.

Some Americans have found the concepts difficult to understand, especially when filling out federal forms with little explanation of the meanings and historically few options. A little over three weeks ago, the Office of Management and Budget announced it will be combining previously separate questions about race and ethnicity on federal forms like the U.S. Census American Community Survey. While the change has been celebrated by some, one University of New Mexico scholar says it could impact our ability to research and understand equity issues ranging from poverty to housing discrimination and it could encourage dangerous narratives about what your skin color says about where you are from.

"In many Latinx homes, there's a saying, 'You can't cover the sun with one finger.' This proverb underscores the real distinction between ethnicity, which pertains to cultural heritage, and race, which possesses a visual component."

Dr. Nancy Lopez is a UNM Sociology professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Justice.

"We're not fooled. You're not going to be able to collect meaningful data when you are asking about two things in one question."

IPNRS host Carly Bowling spoke with Lopez about intersectionality and the complex inequities that can be revealed when examining class, parent education levels, race, gender, ethnicity, and age, simultaneously.

Learn more about Professor Nancy Lópezor her work with the Institute for the Study of "Race" and Social Justice.

Read more about OMB's published revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15from the White House and from the U.S. Census. More information and an example of the proposed question is available in National Public Radio's story, Next U.S. census will have new boxes for 'Middle Eastern or North African,' 'Latino.

Listen to the episode and subscribe to "It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science" on Spotifyor Apple Podcasts.

For more information, visit podcast.unm.edu.