Via WaPo:
In 2020, perhaps for the first time, white Americans will be asked a question that has been lobbed innocently and invidiously at minorities for years: “So where are you really from?”
And it will be the government doing the asking.
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau revealed its proposed questionnaire for the 2020 Census in advance of a March 31 deadline for its delivery to Congress for review. The updated format did not accommodate many suggestions made since 2010. It doesn’t ask about citizenship status (as requested by the Trump Justice Department) and won’t include a separate Middle Eastern and North African category in its question about race.
But there are some key changes to the questions about race and ethnicity. In particular, black and white respondents will be asked to provide specific information about their origins. Rather than just marking a single race, respondents will be prodded for a bit more information: For the text box under the “White” checkbox, the census instructions helpfully state: “Print, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc.” […]
On a basic level, it could be a welcome exercise in empathy. You’re offended? Confused? Welcome to the world of being a visible minority in America — perhaps you might relate to those Asian Americans who are so frequently informed that they couldn’t really be from Connecticut, or African Americans whose countries of origin are obscured by the painful haze of slavery. It might even be good practice for 2044, the year America is projected to become a majority-minority country.
But on a broader scale, this new question could be a step toward dismantling the binary racial categories that have held America back since its founding. By asking whites to consider from whence their supposed “whiteness” derives, the census may begin to help break down our country’s persistent belief in whiteness as some monolithic norm.