Reference no: EM132356001

1. I believe that we should continue collecting data on race in nearly every situation. Data should be collected for census reports, and in studying differences in pay, opportunity, treatment by authority, as well as in intimate (such as marriage statistics) and aesthetic settings. This term, we have touched on all of the ways in which whites benefit from the domination of people of color. By collecting this data, we have proof that there is a racist aesthetic that sets out to depict people of color in a negative way (Desmond and Emirbayer, 2010, p. 364). We know that between 1998 and 2000, the average family income for blacks was $29,000 and $45,000 for whites (p. 157). We know that people of color are far less represented across nearly every form of media than white people. We know that modern segregation exists. Without data being collected, these are things we would not know-things that would continue to go unchanged for decades to come. We have also learned of the supposed "color-blind" badge of honor many tend to wear. Without such data being collected, people could argue that we are in a post-racist society. But because of the data collected on the above topics, we know otherwise. We know that racial equality is still something we need in our society-something to continue striving and fighting for-and collecting this sort of data helps in this fight.

2. The authors, Desmond & Emirbayer, expressed that Neil Gotanda pointed out that colorblindness is, "self-contradictory, because it is impossible not to think about a subject without having first thought about at least a little...To be racially color-blind...is to ignore one has already noticed." (Desmond and Emirbayer 2010, 41) As we learned early on in our readings, race is societies way of categorizing people into groups. Ethnicity is closely related to race, in that, it summarizes one's family's culture and traditions.

With the upcoming 2020 census, race is collected but not ethnicity. Race categorizes how many of what nationality the population is made up of. But after the data is collected, I am not sure if the information is translated correctly. The US is a melting pot of races and ethnicities. People have come from all over the world and have created and raised generations of families. The races have mixed and intertwined so much that it is hard to specify one race or another by itself. I have done a DNA background check and the information that I was provided was where my lineage originated from according to my DNA markers.

I think in that respect, 2020 Census, it is important to collect data as accurately as you can to gain statistical data, provided that the people respond on time and accurately. In medical settings, where race and ethnicity are questioned, may be a defining factor to some illnesses to look out for. There are some races that are predisposed to certain illnesses or health concerns than others. There was a 2018 article in The Washington Post that spoke about the 2020 Census and how race and ethnicity questions have changed from the beginning of the census.

The authors, Johnson and Tourangeau spoke to how if the race and ethnicity data was removed from the Census it would be detrimental to our nation. "Removing this information from the decennial census would make it easier for us to ignore the social discrimination, health and economic disparities that persist in our nation." (Johnson and Tourangeau 2018)