Last Reviewed: June. 18, 2008
Last Modified: Jan. 21, 2009
Content Source:
Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities (OMHD)
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Racial & Ethnic Populations
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Click on a
population (above right)
to access more information on each racial and ethnic population |
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Definitions
of Racial & Ethnic Populations |
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Definitions of Populations |
People with Disabilities |
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The United States has
become increasingly diverse in the last century. According to the 2000
U.S. Census, approximately 30 percent of the population currently belongs to a racial or ethnic
minority group. The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2100,
non-Hispanic whites will make up only 40 percent of the U.S. population. |
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Though health indicators such as life
expectancy and infant mortality have improved for
most Americans, minorities experience a disproportionate
burden of preventable disease, death, and disability compared with
non-minorities.
These trends compel the public health community to examine
issues of health disparity among the various racial and ethnic groups that
comprise the country's population.
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The
Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (OMHD) is charged with improving the health of racial and ethnic
minority populations [American Indian & Alaska Native (AI/AN), Asian
American, black
or
African
American,
Hispanic
or Latino, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
(NHOPI)], and with reducing health disparities among Americans of all
racial and ethnic backgrounds. Click on the links for more
information about each of these groups. |
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Sources: |
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Census
Bureau, Census 2000 Brief: Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2001. |
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Census Bureau Glossary of Terms: Race, 2000. |
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Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Provisional Guidance on the
Implementation of the 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race and
Ethnicity, 2000. |
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OMB Recommendations form the Interagency Committee for the Review of
the Racial and Ethnic Standards to the OMB Concerning Changes to the
Stnadards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and
Ethnicity, 1997. |
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Note: |
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Census 2000 adheres to the federal
standards for collecting and presenting data on race and Hispanic
origin as established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
in October 1997 and subsequent guidelines.
One of the most important changes for Census 2000 was the revision
of the questions on race and Hispanic origin to better reflect the
country’s growing diversity. The federal government considers race
and Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct concepts.
In addition, Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific
Islanders are counted as two separate and distinct racial groups.
Because of these changes, the Census 2000 data on race are not
directly comparable with data from the 1990 census or earlier
censuses. Caution must be used when interpreting changes in the
racial composition of the U.S. population over time. |
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