ABQ Times

Dr. Nancy López, a Sociology Professor at The University of New Mexico, is advocating for the inclusion of a "Street Race" question in the next U.S. Census. This concept, which asks individuals how they believe others perceive their race based on physical attributes like skin color and facial features, aims to capture experiences of discrimination that may not be visible through self-identified race alone.

"'Street Race' is not how you identify but how you believe others see you," López explained. She noted that Latinos with East Asian or Black features might experience discrimination based on those appearances despite identifying differently.

López emphasized the importance of this distinction during public speaking engagements: “Whenever I speak at a big conference I often say, anyone in this room could be Latino or Middle Eastern or Asian, because of their cultural heritage, but based on what you look like, you may experience something different." She argued that without collecting data on perceived race, instances of visual-based discrimination might remain unaddressed.

Her research has spanned over three decades and recently included a study with UCLA following new guidelines from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These guidelines propose combining race and ethnicity into one question rather than two separate ones.

López criticized this approach: “I call it statistical gaslighting because here you are claiming that you’re not making Hispanic a race, but you’re asking about it with race." She added that merging these categories obscures important data needed to understand social issues like poverty and housing segregation by race.

She stressed that while both race and ethnicity are social constructs without genetic or biological bases, they serve different societal functions. Ethnicity relates to cultural heritage, whereas race involves visual and corporeal components. Thus, she believes they should be distinct questions in data collection efforts.

Despite the OMB's new guidelines applying only to federal agencies, López highlighted that other organizations such as schools or hospitals can still ask separate questions for race and ethnicity and include street race queries.

“It begs the question, what are we afraid we’re going to find out if we clarify the difference between race and ethnicity,” she remarked. Using a common Latino proverb—“No se puede tapar el sol con un dedo” (you can’t cover the sun with one finger)—she illustrated the necessity of distinguishing between these concepts.

López pointed out that "Street Race" is an established measure built on extensive research by many scholars. By making it more accessible through simpler terminology, she hopes to broaden its understanding and application.

“If you care about knowing things like housing discrimination, employment discrimination, or healthcare access," she stated, "you need to add another question... Inequities will remain invisible if you only ask how you identify."

With support from a grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, López continues her work on improving federal guidelines for collecting racial and ethnic data using intersectionality principles. She expressed optimism for future advancements in data infrastructure aimed at promoting equity.

“We hope there will be a National Academies consensus study on the scientific measurement of race and ethnicity for use in equity-minded policy," she said. Even if Street Race isn't included in the decennial census, López believes it should feature in other surveys like the annual American Community Survey.

The next Census will take place in April 2030 across the United States and five U.S. territories marking its 25th iteration since inception according to the United States Census Bureau.

For further insights into Street Race, Dr. Nancy López discussed this topic on UNM's podcast: It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science in an episode titled 'How Combining Race and Ethnicity Questions Could Make Research Harder.'