# So who are we (Census question)?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-are-we-census-question/9951>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 6, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-are-we-census-question/9951 "2000-04-06T02:18:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-are-we-census-question/9951/21 "2000-04-08T23:37:00Z")

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C3, I think you do have a point. Are there any people of color responding with “human” or “American,” rather than being more specific?

Not being specific might be the wise choice for everyone in the long run. According to William Seltzer of Fordham U. and Margo Anderson of Univ. of Wisc. Milwaukee, the US gov used Census information to round up Japanese-Americans for internment during WWII. The feds knew just which neighborhoods and houses to go to, thanks to demographic data obligingly supplied by the Census Bureau.

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**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-are-we-census-question/9951/22 "2000-04-08T23:42:00Z")

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Sorry, Jackel - I didn’t see your post before I asked the question.

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