Trump Administration Seeks to Remove Race Question From Next US Census

The Trump administration wants to stop asking about race and ethnicity on the next US census, according to NPR, reviving a long-running debate over how the federal government counts and categorizes the population.

NPR reported that questions about race have been part of the US census since 1790, the year of the country's first count. Over the more than two centuries since, the report said, the topic has been used both to exclude people of color from full participation in American life and, more recently, as a tool intended to promote inclusion, such as in tracking discrimination and allocating resources.

Removing the race and ethnicity question would represent a significant shift in how the census collects demographic data, though NPR's report did not detail the specific rationale offered by the administration for the change or the process by which such a modification would be enacted.

Census data on race and ethnicity is used for a range of purposes beyond basic population counts, including the enforcement of civil rights laws, the drawing of electoral districts, and the allocation of federal funding tied to demographic factors.