Current data practices reduce the visibility of Native Americans. The Brookings Institutes has tracked two major sources of misclassifications:
- The concept of “race” on the US census can be a problem for Native Americans as Native Americans may not consider their Indigenous identity or tribal affiliation as a race.
- Native Americans tend to identify as two or more races much more often. Native American people are categorized as Latino or Hispanic and multiracial at a higher rate than any other major group. Example: the Department of Education data “topcodes” Latino or Hispanic students—any student with Latino or Hispanic identity is automatically categorized as Latino or Hispanic regardless of their other racial and ethnic identities including Native Americans.
The Brookings Institution recommends a few remedies:
- Ask about Indigenous identity in a separate question rather than putting it as an option for race (the Canadian and Australian census both do it this way)
- The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) encouraging federal agencies to collect more comprehensive data on American Indian and Alaska Native populations thus giving a more solid secondary research base
- The US government empowering tribes to collect and manage data about their own populations and territories
For more insights and support on multicultural data collection especially multiracial data, and how to correctly interpret it, contact the team at Ebony Marketing Systems. We specialize in conducting research that offers fresh perspectives. Call us at (718) 742-0006 or email us at info@ebonysystems.com for more information.
