Race and ethnicity in the United States

{{Short description|Ethnic groups in the United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Culture of the United States}}

The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/pop-profile/2000/chap16.pdf|title=Our Diverse Population: Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000|access-date=April 16, 2005|publisher=United States Census Bureau}} At the federal level, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. The most recent United States census recognized five racial categories (White, Black, Native American/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander), as well as people who belong to two or more of the racial categories.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=United States Census Bureau website|work=2008 Population Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 28, 2010}} The United States also recognizes the broader notion of ethnicity. While previous censuses inquired about the "ancestry" of residents, the current form asks people to enter their "origins".{{cite news|title=Irish Americans must respond to ethnic question in 2020 US Census|language=en|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/genealogy/irish-americans-respond-ethnic-question-2020-census.amp|access-date=May 5, 2021}}

White Americans are the majority in every census-defined region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and 44 out of 50 states, except Hawaii,{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US15&primary_geo_id=04000US15|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} California,{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US06&primary_geo_id=04000US06|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} Texas,{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US48&primary_geo_id=04000US48|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} New Mexico,{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US35&primary_geo_id=04000US35 |access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} Nevada,{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US32&primary_geo_id=04000US32|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} and Maryland.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US24&primary_geo_id=04000US24|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} Those identifying as white alone or in combination (including multiracial white Americans) are the majority in every state except for Hawaii.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02008 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02008&geo_ids=04000US15&primary_geo_id=04000US15|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} The region with the highest proportion of White Americans is the Midwest, at 74.6% per the American Community Survey (ACS), followed by the Northeast, at 64%.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=02000US2&primary_geo_id=02000US2|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=02000US1&primary_geo_id=02000US1|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} Non-Hispanic whites make up 73% of the Midwest's population, the highest proportion of any region, and they make up 62% of the population in the Northeast.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=02000US2&primary_geo_id=02000US2|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=02000US1&primary_geo_id=02000US1|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} At the same time, the regions with the smallest share of White Americans are the West, where they comprise 51.9%, and the South, where they comprise 57.7%.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=02000US4&primary_geo_id=02000US4|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=02000US3&primary_geo_id=02000US3|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} Non-Hispanic whites are a minority in the West, where they make up 47.1% of the population.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=02000US4&primary_geo_id=02000US4|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}} In the South, non-Hispanic whites make up 54% of the population.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=02000US3&primary_geo_id=02000US3|access-date=2024-07-03|website=censusreporter.org}}

Currently, 55% of the African American population lives in the South. A plurality or majority of the other official groups reside in the West. The latter region is home to 42% of Hispanic and Latino Americans, 46% of Asian Americans, 48% of Native Americans and Alaska Natives, 68% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, 37% of the "two or more races" population (multiracial Americans), and 46% of those self-designated as "some other race".{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=B03002. Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race – Universe: Total Population by region|work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|access-date=March 2, 2010|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}

Each of the five inhabited US territories is fairly homogeneous, though each comprises a different primary ethnic group. American Samoa has a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are mostly Asian and Pacific Islander, Puerto Rico is mostly Hispanic/Latino, and the US Virgin Islands are mostly African American.

Racial and ethnic categories

{{Main|Race and ethnicity in the United States census|Demographics of the United States}}

File:Population pyramid of the United States by race-ethnicity in 2020.svg

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Racial groups in the United States (2020 census){{cite web|url=https://census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html|title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census|date=August 12, 2021|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=September 18, 2021|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007112207/https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/detailed-race-ethnicities-2020-census.html|title=Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census|publisher=United States census|date= September 21, 2023|access-date=October 21, 2023}}

|label1 = European and Middle Eastern

|value1 = 61.63

|color1 = #FBC5A7

|label2 = African

|value2 = 12.40

|color2 = #55382A

|label3 = Multiracial

|value3 = 10.21

|color3 = #AA7E54

|label4 = East Asian and Southeast Asian

|value4 = 4.26

|color4 = #FAD6A5

|label5 = South Asian

|value5 = 1.74

|color5 = #A9746E

|label6 = Native

|value6 = 1.12

|color6 = #AD5135

|label7 = Pacific Islander

|value7 = 0.21

|color7 = #BD9473

|label8 = Some other race

|value8 = 8.42

|color8 = Lightgray

}}

=Racial categories=

The first United States census in 1790 classed residents as free white people (divided by age and sex), all other free persons (reported by sex and color), and enslaved people. The 2000 census officially recognized six racial categories including people of two or more races; a category called "some other race" was also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official. In the 2000 census and subsequent Census Bureau surveys, Americans self-described as belonging to these racial groups:{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/cenbr01-1.pdf|title=Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000|access-date=January 30, 2008|last1=Grieco|first1=Elizabeth M.|last2=Cassidy|first2=Rachel C.|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}

  • White American (European American and Middle Eastern American or North African American): those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.{{efn|Following consultations with Middle East and North Africa (MENA) organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arab world.{{cite web|title=Public Comments to NCT Federal Register Notice|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/2020-census/2015_census_tests/nct/2015-nct-frn.pdf|publisher=United States Census Bureau; Department of Commerce|access-date=April 19, 2016}} However, this did not occur in the 2020 census.{{cite news|last=Alshammari|first=Yousef H.|date=April 1, 2020|title=Why is there no MENA category on the 2020 US census?|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/01/why-is-there-no-mena-category-on-the-2020-us-census/|access-date=September 25, 2020}}}}
  • Black or African American: those having origins in any of the native peoples of sub-Saharan Africa.{{efn|For the 2000 census, this includes people who indicated their race or races as "Black, African Am., or Negro", or wrote in entries such as African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian.}}
  • American Indian or Alaska Native: those having origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America.
  • Asian American (East Asian American, Southeast Asian American, and South Asian American): those having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
  • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia.
  • Other: respondents wrote how they identified themselves if different from the preceding categories.{{efn|However, 95% of the people who report in this category are Hispanic Mestizos.{{cite web|title=Persons reporting some other race, percent, 2000|access-date=July 19, 2019|publisher=United States Census Bureau|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/some_other_race.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213004245/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/some_other_race.htm|archive-date=February 13, 2020|url-status=dead}} This is not a standard OMB race category. Other terms used may be Romani and, Aboriginal Australian. Responses have included mixed-race terms such as Métis, Creole, and Mulatto, which are generally considered to be categories of multi-racial ancestry (see below),{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/racefactcb.html|title=Racial and Ethnic Classifications Used in Census 2000 and Beyond|access-date=November 2, 2007|publisher=United States Census Bureau|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011127063008/http%3A//www%2Ecensus%2Egov/population/www/socdemo/race/racefactcb%2Ehtml|archive-date=November 27, 2001}} but, write-in entries reported in the 2000 census also included nationalities (as opposed to ethnicities), such as South African, Belizean, or Puerto Rican, as well as other terms for mixed-race groups like Wesort, Melungeon, mixed, interracial, and others.}}
  • Two or more races, widely known as multiracial: those who check off and/or write in more than one race.{{efn|There is no option labelled "two or more races" or "multiracial" on census and other forms; people who report more than one of the foregoing six options are classified as people of "two or more races" in subsequent processing. Any respondent may identify with any number (including all six) of the racial categories.}}

In the census, people are asked about their racial identity, including their origins, and whether or not they are of Hispanic ethnicity.{{cite web|url=https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=191|title=U.S. Census Bureau: FAQs|publisher=Ask.census.gov|access-date=May 16, 2013}} These categories are sociopolitical constructs and should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature. They have been changed from one census to another, and the racial categories include both "racial" and national origin groups.[http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68178.htm The American FactFinder] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831085310/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68178.htm|date=August 31, 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/census/race_ethnic_data.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813055015/http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/census/race_ethnic_data.html|url-status=dead|title=Introduction to Race and Ethnic (Hispanic Origin) Data for the Census 2000 Special EEO File|archive-date=August 13, 2009}}

In 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US Department of Labor finalized the update of its EEO-1 report{{cite web|url=http://www.eeoc.gov/eeo1/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813053315/http://www.eeoc.gov/eeo1/index.html|url-status=dead|title=Final Revisions of the Employer Information Report (EEO-1)|archive-date=August 13, 2009}} format and guidelines concerning the definitions of racial or ethnic categories.

In March 2024, the Office of Management and Budget published revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity that address: (1) combined question for race and ethnicity; (2) adding a "Middle Eastern or North African (MENA)" category; and (3) collecting additional detail to enable data disaggregation.{{cite web|last=Orvis|first=Karin|author-link=Karin Orvis|date=2024-03-28|title=OMB Publishes Revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity {{!}} OMB|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/briefing-room/2024/03/28/omb-publishes-revisions-to-statistical-policy-directive-no-15-standards-for-maintaining-collecting-and-presenting-federal-data-on-race-and-ethnicity/|access-date=2024-03-28|website=The White House|language=en-US}}{{cite web|title=U.S. Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity|url=https://spd15revision.gov/|access-date=March 28, 2024|website=U.S. Office of Management and Budget Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards}}

In April 2024, the US Census Bureau released the following revised definitions for combined race and ethnicity reporting:Marks, Rachel; Jones, Nicholas; Battle, Karen (April 8, 2024). "What Updates to OMB's Race/Ethnicity Standards Mean for the Census Bureau". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 19, 2025. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2024/04/updates-race-ethnicity-standards.html

Here is the converted content in Wikitable format:

class="wikitable"

! Race/Ethnicity Reporting Category

! Definition

American Indian or Alaska Native

| Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America, including, for example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, and Maya.

Asian

| Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Central or East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, including, for example, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese.

Black or African American

| Individuals with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa, including, for example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ghanaian, and South African.

Hispanic or Latino

| Includes individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin.

Middle Eastern or North African

| Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of the Middle East or North Africa, including, for example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Israeli.

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

| Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands, including, for example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, and Marshallese.

White or European American

| Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, including, for example, English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Scottish.

=Census-designated ethnicities: Hispanic or Latino origin=

{{See also|Race and ethnicity in Latin America|Ethnic groups in Latin America}}

{{bar box

|title=2021 estimates, including separate category for Latino / Hispanic{{cite web|date=2023-05-18|title=US population by year, race, age, ethnicity, & more|url=https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/|access-date=2023-06-03|website=USAFacts|language=en}}

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Self-identified race and ethnicity

|right1=Percent of population

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|White|Blue|59.3}}

{{bar percent|Hispanic and Latino|Blue|18.9}}

{{bar percent|Black|Blue|12.6}}

{{bar percent|Asian|Blue|5.9}}

{{bar percent|Two or more races|Blue|2.3}}

{{bar percent|American Indian or Alaska Native|Blue|0.7}}

{{bar percent|Some other race|Blue|0.5}}

{{bar percent|Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander|Blue|0.2}}

}}

{{bar box

|title=2020 US census, spreading Latino / Hispanic based on their racial identification{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html|title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=December 2, 2021}}

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Self-identified race

|right1=Percent of population

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|White|Blue|61.6}}

{{bar percent|Hispanic and Latino|Blue|18.9}}

{{bar percent|Black or African American|Blue|12.4}}

{{bar percent|Two or more races|Blue|10.2}}

{{bar percent|Some other race|Blue|8.4}}

{{bar percent|Asian|Blue|6.0}}

{{bar percent|Native American or Alaska Native|Blue|2.9}}

{{bar percent|Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander|Blue|0.2}}

}}

The question on Hispanic or Latino origin is separate from the question on race.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d61a.pdf |title=Short Form Questionnaire |access-date=May 5, 2008 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}} Hispanic and Latino Americans have ethnic origins in a Spanish-speaking country or Brazil. Latin American countries are, like the United States, racially diverse.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003008/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 13, 2007 |title=CIA – The World Factbook – Field Listing: Ethnic groups |access-date=April 2, 2010 |publisher=CIA}} Consequently, no separate racial category exists for Hispanic and Latino Americans, as they do not constitute a race, nor a national group. When responding to the race question on the census form, each person is asked to choose from among the same racial categories as all Americans, and are included in the numbers reported for those races.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/compraceho.html |title=U.S. Census Bureau Guidance on the Presentation and Comparison of Race and Hispanic Origin Data |access-date=April 6, 2007 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |quote=Race and Hispanic origin are two separate concepts in the federal statistical system. People who are Hispanic may be of any race. People in each race group may be either Hispanic or Not Hispanic. Each person has two attributes, their race (or races) and whether or not they are Hispanic.}}

Each racial category may contain Hispanic or Latino and Non-Hispanic or Latino Americans. For example: the White or European American race category contains Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites (see White Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Black or African American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks (see Black Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Asian American category contains Non-Hispanic Asians and Hispanic Asians (see Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans), and likewise for all the other categories.

Self-identifying as both Hispanic or Latino and not Hispanic or Latino is neither explicitly allowed nor explicitly prohibited.{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/1997standards.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040208185224/http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/1997standards.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 8, 2004 |title=Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity |access-date=May 5, 2008 |publisher=Office of Management and Budget}}

{{clear}}

Social definitions of race

{{See also|Definitions of whiteness in the United States}}

{{More citations needed section|date=June 2022|talk=Missing references}}

Since the concept of race became widespread in the early United States, people of Native American heritage, African heritage, and European heritage were considered to belong to different races. For nearly three centuries, the criteria for membership in these groups were similar; a person's appearance, their social circle (how they lived), and ancestry were all considered by society when determining someone's race.

The motivations behind historical definitions of racial identity, especially Native American and black identities, have been the topic of much discussion in modern years. According to many anthropologists, these racial designations were a means to concentrate power, wealth, privilege and land in the hands of white people in a society of white hegemony and privilege. Racial distinctions generally had little to do with biology and more to do with the history of slavery, the systemic racism it produced, and specific forms of white supremacy that benefited from specific definitions of racial identity. For example, it has been suggested that the blood quantum laws defining Native American identity enabled whites to acquire indigenous lands during the allotment process, and the one-drop rule of black identity, enforced legally in the early 20th century, enabled them to preserve their agricultural labor force in the South.

The descendants of Native and Black Americans not only had to contend with laws defining their racial identity for the benefit of the majority, but also with a variety of social consequences depending on how they were perceived in society. Compared to other mixed Americans, the blood quantum laws made it easier for a person of mixed European and Native American ancestry to be accepted as white; after a few generations of intermarriage, the offspring of Native and White Americans would no longer legally be considered Native American. They could have treaty rights to land, but because an individual with only one native great-grandparent was no longer was classified as Native American, they lost legal claim to their land under historical allotment rules, making it easier for White Americans to acquire the land for their own development. On the other hand, the same individual who could be denied legal standing in a tribe because he was "too White" to claim property rights might still have enough visually identifiable native ancestry to be considered socially as a "half-breed" and stigmatized by both communities.

The 20th century one-drop rule made it relatively difficult for anyone of known black ancestry to be accepted as white. The child of a black sharecropper and a white person was considered black by the local communities, and would likely become a sharecropper as well, thus adding to the landholder or employer's labor force. Because the agricultural economy of the time benefited from using Black Americans as a labor force, it was advantageous for as many people as possible to be defined as black. Many experts on the Jim Crow period agree that the 20th century notion of invisible blackness shifted the color line in the direction of paleness, and "expanded" the labor force in response to Southern blacks' Great Migration to the North, although others (such as the historians C. Vann Woodward, George M. Fredrickson, and Stetson Kennedy) considered the one-drop rule a consequence of the need to justify the oppression of Black Americans and define whiteness as pure.

Over the centuries, as whites wielded social and political power over people of color in the United States, they created a social order of hypodescent, in which they assigned mixed-race children to the lower-status groups. However, they were often ignorant of the systems of social classification within Native American tribes. The Omaha people, for instance, who had a patrilineal kinship system, classified all children with white fathers as "White", and excluded them as members of the tribe unless they were formally adopted by a male member. Tribal members might care for mixed-race children of White fathers, but they were considered outside the hereditary clan and kinship fundamental to tribal society.[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/collections/vol19/v19p064.htm Melvin Randolph Gilmore, "The True Logan Fontenelle"], Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Vol. 19, edited by Albert Watkins, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1919, p. 64, at GenNet, accessed August 25, 2011

The social construction of hypodescent also related to the racial caste system associated with slavery. It was made explicit by Virginia and other colonies' laws as early as 1662. Virginia incorporated the Roman principle of partus sequitur ventrem into slave law, saying that children of enslaved mothers were born into slavery as well. Under English common law, children's social status was determined by the father, not the mother, but the colonists considered enslaved Africans outside the category of English subjects. Although White men were in positions of power to take sexual advantage of enslaved black women, this meant that their offspring would be considered Black and were enslaved regardless of their parentage. However, most free Black American families listed in the censuses of 1790–1810 were descended from unions between White women and African men in colonial Virginia, from the years when working classes lived and worked closely together, and before slavery had hardened as a racial caste.{{Cite web|url=http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/|title=Home Page|website=www.freeafricanamericans.com}}

In the United States, social and legal conventions developed over time by Whites classified individuals of mixed ancestry into simplified racial categories, but these were always flawed. The decennial censuses conducted since 1790, after slavery was well established in the United States, included a classification of persons by race, with the categories of "White", "Black", "Mulatto", and "Indian". The inclusion of mulatto was a rare explicit acknowledgement of mixed race people, but that status was usually simplified into one race or another in actual society. Before the Civil War, states such as Virginia had a legal definition of whiteness that classified people as white if they were no more than 1/8th black. For example, if not born into slavery, Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave Sally Hemings would have been classified as legally white, as they were 7/8ths White by ancestry. Three of the four surviving children entered white society as adults, and their descendants have identified as white. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, people of mixed race often migrated to frontiers where societies were more open, and they might be accepted as white if they satisfied obligations of citizenship.

The more familiar "one-drop rule" was not adopted by Virginia and other states until the 20th century, but it classified persons with any known African ancestry as black. Passage of these laws was often encouraged by white supremacists and people promoting "racial purity", who disregarded the long history of multi-racial unions in the South.Jones, Suzanne W., Race Mixing: Southern Fiction Since the Sixties, JHU Press, 2006, p. 186, {{ISBN|9780801883934}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=-G0clCdcSSkC&pg=PA186] In other countries in the Americas, where mixing among groups was overtly more extensive, social categories have tended to be more numerous and fluid. In some cases, people may move into or out of categories on the basis of a combination of socioeconomic status, social class, ancestry, and appearance.

The term Hispanic as an ethnonym emerged in the 20th century, with the rise of migration of laborers from Spanish-speaking countries of the western hemisphere to the United States. It includes people who may have been considered racially distinct (black, white, native, or other mixed groups) in their home countries. Today, the word "Latino" is often used as a synonym for "Hispanic". Even if such categories were earlier understood as racial categories, today they have begun to represent ethnolinguistic categories, regardless of perceived race. Similarly, the prefix "Anglo" is now used among some Hispanics to refer to non-Hispanic White Americans or European Americans, most of whom speak the English language but are not of primarily English descent. A similar phenomenon of ethnolinguistic identity can historically (and in some cases contemporarily) be seen in the case of the Louisiana Creole people, who may be of any race but share certain cultural characteristics.

Racial and ethnic makeup of the US population

For demographics by specific ethnic groups rather than general race, see "Ancestry" below.

=White and European Americans=

{{Main|White Americans|European Americans}}

File:White America (of one race) from 1960 to 2020.gif

White and European Americans are the majority of people living in the United States. White people are defined by the United States Census Bureau as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa".{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html|title=About the Topic of Race|access-date=Dec 7, 2022}} Like all official US racial categories, "White" has a "not Hispanic or Latino" and a "Hispanic or Latino" component,{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-4.pdf|title=The White Population: 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|date=August 2001|access-date=March 10, 2011}} the latter consisting mostly of Spanish Americans, White Mexican Americans, and White Cuban Americans.

As of 2022, White Americans are the majority in every census-defined region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and 44 out of 50 states. White Americans of one race are not a majority in the states of Hawaii, California, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Maryland, along with the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,{{Cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02001 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02001&geo_ids=04000US72&primary_geo_id=04000US72 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}} and the US Virgin Islands.{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPAS_ASDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503200517/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPAS_ASDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |work=American FactFinder |title=American Samoa 2010 Demographic Profile |access-date=July 25, 2020}}{{citation |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/virgin-islands/ |work=CIA World Factbook |title=U.S. Virgin Islands |access-date=July 25, 2020}} However, those identifying as White alone or in combination (including multiracial White Americans) are the majority in every state except for Hawaii, along with being a majority in the territory of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 US census, non-Hispanic Whites are a majority in 44 states, excluding California, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.{{cite web |title=Quick Facts: Hawaii |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/HI |access-date=February 10, 2022 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}
{{cite web |title=Quick Facts: District of Columbia |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/DC |access-date=February 10, 2022 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}
{{cite web |title=Quick Facts: Puerto Rico |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/PR |access-date=February 10, 2022 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA |title=Quick Facts: California |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 10, 2022}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MD |title=Quick Facts: Maryland |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 10, 2022}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NV |title=Quick Facts: Nevada |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 10, 2022}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NM |title=Quick Facts: New Mexico |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 10, 2022}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/TX |title=Quick Facts: Texas |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 10, 2022}}
{{cite web |title=American FactFinder |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPGU_GUDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413071617/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPGU_GUDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=April 13, 2016 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}

{{cite web |title=American FactFinder |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPMP_MPDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212212938/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPMP_MPDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005514.html |title=Texas Becomes Nation's Newest "Majority-Minority" State, Census Bureau Announces |access-date=May 5, 2008 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080420121231/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005514.html |archive-date = April 20, 2008}}

The non-Hispanic White percentage of the 50 states and District of Columbia (60.1% in 2019){{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219|publisher=United States Census Bureau|title=QuickFacts: United States|access-date=July 25, 2020}} has been decreasing since the mid-20th century as a result of changes made in immigration policy, most notably the Hart–Celler Act of 1965. If current trends continue, non-Hispanic Whites will drop below 50% of the overall US population by 2050. White Americans overall (non-Hispanic Whites together with White Hispanics, along with many of those identified as "some other race" who are reclassified as White for Census Bureau projections, as this category is not recognized by the Office of Management and Budget{{cite web|date=July 3, 2024|title=Methodology, Assumptions, and Inputs for the 2023 National Population Projections|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popproj/technical-documentation/methodology/methodstatement23.pdf|website=US Census Bureau}}{{cite web|author=United States Census Bureau|title=Modified Race Data|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/research/modified-race-data.html|access-date=2024-07-03|website=Census.gov}}) are projected to continue as the majority, at 72.6% (or 264 million out of 364 million) in 2060, from currently 75.5%.{{cite web|author=United States Census Bureau|title=2023 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series|url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2023/demo/popproj/2023-summary-tables.html|access-date=2024-07-03|website=Census.gov}}

Although a high proportion of the population is known to have multiple ancestries, in the 2020 United States census, most people still identified with one racial category.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} In the 2020 census, self-identified English Americans made up 46.6 million of the US population, followed by German Americans at 45 million, as reported in the 2020 census. This makes English and German the largest and second-largest self-reported ancestry groups in the United States. Many English Americans and other British Americans self-identified under the category entry "American", thus considering themselves indigenous because their families had resided in the US for so long. {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} 17.8 million Americans listed their ancestry as "American" on the 2020 census (see American ancestry).

Most French Americans are believed to be descended from colonists of Catholic New France; exiled Huguenots, much fewer in number and settling in the eastern English colonies in the late 1600s and early 1700s, needed to assimilate into the majority culture and have intermarried over generations. Some Louisiana Creoles, including the Isleños of Louisiana, and the Hispanos of the Southwest have had, in part, direct Spanish ancestry; most self-reported White Hispanics are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Salvadoran origins,{{cite web |title=The Hispanic Population: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf |website=census.gov |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce |access-date=August 13, 2021}} each of which are multi-ethnic nations. Hispanic immigration has increased from nations of Central and South America.{{cite web |url=http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/35.pdf |title=Shades of Belonging |last=Tafoya |first=Sonya |year=2004 |publisher=Pew Hispanic Center |access-date=January 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528123221/http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/35.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

There are a substantial number of White Americans who are of Eastern and Southern European descent, such as Russian, Polish, Italian, Turks and Greek Americans. Eastern Europeans immigrated to the United States more recently than Western Europeans. Arabs, Iranians, Israelis, Armenians and other West Asians, are reported as White in the United States census, as a result of a federal court case from 1909, even though most do not identify as White.{{Cite web|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Arab-Americans-others-of-Middle-Eastern-descent-14075860.php|title=Arab Americans, others of Middle Eastern descent say Census forms make them feel invisible|first=Massarah|last=Mikati|date=July 6, 2019|website=Houston Chronicle}}

=Hispanic and Latino Americans=

{{Main|Hispanic and Latino Americans}}

Hispanic or Latino Population by race (2020):

class="wikitable"

! colspan="8" |Hispanic Americans in 2020 (Hispanic America)

Year

!Population

!% of

Hispanics

!% of

the USA

!Percent Change

Multiracial

|20,299,960

|32.70%

|6.12%

|567.2%

White (alone)

|12,579,626

|20.26%

|3.80%

| -52.9%

Native (alone)

|1,475,436

|2.38%

|0.45%

|115.3%

Black (alone)

|1,163,862

|1.87%

|0.35%

| -6.2%

Asian (alone)

|267,330

|0.43%

|0.08%

|27.8%

Pacific Islander (alone)

|67,948

|0.11%

|0.02%

|16.3%

Some Other Race (alone)

|26,225,882

|42.25%

|7.91%

|41.7%

Total

|62,080,044

|100%

|18.73%

|

colspan="8" |Source: 2020 United States census{{cite web|author=United States Census Bureau|title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html|access-date=2024-07-04|website=Census.gov}}

Hispanic or Latino Americans number 59.8 million people, or 18.3% of the total US population as of 2018.{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B03002&tid=ACSDT1Y2018.B03002&lastDisplayedRow=20&hidePreview=true&vintage=2018&layer=county&cid=B03002_001E&y=2018&table=B03002&g=0100000US|title=B03002 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE – United States – 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2018 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=November 25, 2019}} The category includes people who are of full or partial Hispanic or Latino origin. They typically have origins in the Spanish-speaking nations of Latin America, although a few also come from other places (0.2% of Hispanic and Latino Americans were born in Asia, for example).{{cite web |url=http://www.factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-reg=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201PR:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201T:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201TPR:400&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= |title=United States – Selected Population Profile in the United States (Hispanic or Latino (of any race)) |work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100902082439/http://www.factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-reg=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201PR:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201T:400;ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S0201TPR:400&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= |archive-date=September 2, 2010 |url-status=dead }} The group is heterogeneous in race and national ancestry.

The Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino origin" thus:

{{Cquote|For Census 2000, American Community Survey: People who identify with the terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" are those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the Census 2000 or ACS questionnaire ("Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban") as well as those who indicate that they are "other Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino". Origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person, or the person's parents or ancestors, before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino may be of any race.{{cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/hispanic_or_latino_origin.htm|title=American FactFinder Help; Hispanic or Latino origin|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170524223029/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/hispanic_or_latino_origin.htm|archive-date=May 24, 2017|url-status=dead}}}}

Per the 2019 American Community Survey, the leading ancestries for Hispanic Americans are Mexican (37.2 million) followed by Puerto Rican (5.83 million), Cuban (2.38 million), and Salvadoran (2.31 million).{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B03001%3A%20HISPANIC%20OR%20LATINO%20ORIGIN%20BY%20SPECIFIC%20ORIGIN&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B03001&hidePreview=true|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN - United States - 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2019 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 4, 2021}} In addition, there are 3.19 million people living in Puerto Rico who are excluded from the count (see Puerto Ricans).

The Hispanic and Latino population in the United States has reached 58 million as of 2016, and has been the principal driver of United States demographic growth since 2000. Mexicans make up most of the Hispanic and Latino population at 35,758,000. The United States also has large Dominican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Honduran, Spanish, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Panamanian populations.{{cite web |last1=Noe-Bustamante |first1=Luis |last2=Flores |first2=Antonio |last3=Shah |first3=Sono |title=Facts on Hispanics of Honduran origin in the United States, 2017 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/u-s-hispanics-facts-on-honduran-origin-latinos/ |access-date=February 10, 2022 |publisher=Pew Research Center}} The population of Hispanic Americans that has received a college education is also growing; in 2015, 40% of Hispanic Americans age 25 and older have had a college experience, but in 2000, the percentage was at a low 30%. Among US states, California houses the largest population of Latinos. In 2019, 15.56 million lived in California.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/18/how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/|title=How the U.S. Hispanic population is changing|first=Antonio|last=Flores |date=September 18, 2017 |website=Pew Research Center }} As of 2019, the US territory with the largest percentage of Hispanics/Latinos is Puerto Rico (98.9% Hispanic or Latino).{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_DP05&prodType=table |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214010714/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_DP05&prodType=table |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |work=American FactFinder |title=Puerto Rico (ACS 2013–2017 population estimates) |access-date=November 29, 2019}}

The Hispanic or Latino population is young and fast-growing, due to immigration and higher birth rates. For decades it has contributed significantly to US population increases, and this is expected to continue. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, one-quarter of the population will be Hispanic or Latino.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/natprojtab01a.pdf |title=Projected Population of the United States, by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000 to 2050 |date=2004 |access-date=May 5, 2008 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080306035846/http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/natprojtab01a.pdf |archive-date = March 6, 2008}}{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001720.html |title=US Census Press Releases |access-date=May 5, 2008 |date=March 18, 2004 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080313083717/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001720.html |archive-date = March 13, 2008}}

=Black and African Americans=

{{Main|African Americans}}

African Americans, or Black Americans, are citizens of the United States with African ancestry.{{cite web|title=Race, Ethnicity, and Language data – Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement|url=http://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/publications/files/iomracereport.pdf|publisher=Institute of Medicine of the National Academies|access-date=May 10, 2016}} According to the Office of Management and Budget, the grouping includes individuals who self-identify as African American and are descended from Africans that were forcibly relocated to the United States and enslaved, as well as those who recently and voluntarily emigrated from nations in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-06.pdf |title=The Black Population: 2010 |author=Sonya Tastogi |author2=Tallese D. Johnson |author3=Elizabeth M. Hoeffel |author4=Malcolm P. Drewery, Jr. |date=September 2011 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |access-date=September 11, 2012}} Both groups of people may also identify as Black or some other written-in race. However, some immigrants from the continent of Africa do not identify as Black and are not socially perceived as such, such as the Afrikaners of South Africa. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, there were 38,093,725 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.4% of the population. There were 37,144,530 non-Hispanic Blacks, which comprised 12.1% of the population.[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= United States{{snd}}ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200211182353/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= |date=February 11, 2020 }}. Factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2010. According to the 2010 US census, this number increased to 42 million when including multiracial African Americans, making up 13% of the total US population.{{efn|Of the foreign-born population from Africa (1,607 thousand), in 2010, 46% were naturalized.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf |title=The Foreign Born Population in the United States: 2010 |last1=Grieco |first1=Elizabeth M. |last2=Acosta |first2=Yesenia D. |last3=de la Cruz |first3=G. Patricia |last4=Gamino |first4=Christina |last5=Gryn |first5=Thomas |last6=Larsen |first6=Luke J. |last7=Trevelyan |first7=Edward N. |last8=Walters |first8=Nathan P. |date=May 2012 |website=American Community Survey Reports |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209224630/http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf |archive-date=February 9, 2015 |url-status=dead }}}}{{cite web |url=http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn185.html |title=2010 Census Shows Black Population has Highest Concentration in the South |date=September 29, 2011 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |access-date=September 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915180008/http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn185.html |archive-date=September 15, 2012 |url-status=dead }} African Americans make up the second largest group in the United States, but the third largest group after White Americans and Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race.{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP3&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212211647/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP3&prodType=table|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 12, 2020|title=American FactFinder – Results|author=United States Census Bureau|website=factfinder2.census.gov}} The majority of the population (55%) lives in the South, and there has been a decrease of African Americans in the Northeast and Midwest. The US state/territory with the highest percentage of African Americans is the US Virgin Islands (76% African American as of 2010).[https://archive.today/20200214060850/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPVI_VIDP1&prodType=table] American FactFinder. 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands Demographic Profile Data. Retrieved November 29, 2019.

Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captives from West Africa, who survived the slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States.{{cite web |url=http://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/BlackWhite/BlackDiversityReport/black-diversity03.htm |title=The size and regional distribution of the black population |access-date=October 1, 2007 |publisher=Lewis Mumford Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012170004/http://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/BlackWhite/BlackDiversityReport/black-diversity03.htm |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |url-status=dead }} The first West Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The English settlers treated these captives as indentured servants and released them after a number of years. This practice was gradually replaced by the system of race-based slavery used in the Caribbean.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr2.html|title=New World Exploration and English Ambition |work=The Terrible Transformation |publisher=PBS |access-date=September 11, 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070614105621/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr2.html| archive-date=June 14, 2007 | url-status=live}} All the American colonies had slavery, but it was usually in the form of personal servants in the North (where 2% of the population were enslaved), and field hands in plantations in the South (where 25% were enslaved);{{cite book |title=Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South |last=Gomez |first=Michael A. |year=1998 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807846940 |pages=384 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfHU4mOPMmMC}} by the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, a fifth of the total population was enslaved.{{cite book |title=The American revolution: a history |last=Wood |first=Gordon S. |year=2002 |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=9780679640578 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanrevoluti00gord/page/55 55] |url=https://archive.org/details/americanrevoluti00gord|url-access=registration }} During the revolution, some served in the Continental Army or Continental Navy,Liberty! The American Revolution (Documentary) Episode{{spaces}}II:Blows Must Decide: 1774–1776. ©1997 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. {{ISBN|1-4157-0217-9}}{{cite book |title=Blacks in the American Revolution |series=Volume 55 of Contributions in American history |last=Foner |first=Philip Sheldon |year=1976 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780837189468 |page=70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk92AAAAMAAJ&q=Philip+S.+Foner+Blacks+in+the+Revolution}} while others fought for the British Empire in units such as the Ethiopian Regiment.{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/work_community/loyalists.htm |title=Black Loyalists |work=Black Presence |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=September 11, 2012}} By 1804, the states north of the Mason–Dixon line had abolished slavery.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/freedom/history.html |title=Freedom & Emancipation |author=Nicholas Boston |author2=Jennifer Hallam |year=2004 |work=Educational Broadcasting Corporation |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |access-date=September 11, 2012}} However, slavery would persist in the Southern states until the end of the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.{{cite web |url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40 |title=13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution |work=ourdocuments.gov |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=September 11, 2012}} Following the end of the Reconstruction era, which saw the first African American representation in Congress,{{cite web |url=http://baic.house.gov/historical-essays/essay.html?intID=3 |title=The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood |work=Office of the Clerk |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=September 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211224758/http://baic.house.gov/historical-essays/essay.html?intID=3 |archive-date=December 11, 2012 |url-status=dead }} African Americans became disenfranchised and subject to Jim Crow laws,{{cite book |title=American Black History |last=Walter |first=Hazen |year=2004 |publisher=Lorenz Educational Press |isbn=9780787706036 |page=37 |access-date=September 11, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GuvsptYLFL4C&q=Jim+Crow+Laws+Reconstruction+African+Americans&pg=PA37}} legislation that would persist until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 due to the civil rights movement.{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/prize.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116174251/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/prize.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 16, 2008 |title=The Prize |work=We Shall Overcome |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=September 11, 2012}}

According to US Census Bureau data, very few African immigrants self-identify as "African-American" (as "African-American" is usually referring to Blacks with deeply rooted ancestry dating back to the US slave period as discussed in the previous paragraph.) On average, less than 5% of African residents self-reported as "African-American" or "Afro-American" in the 2000 US census. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. Self-designation as "African-American" or "Afro-American" was highest among individuals from West Africa (4–9%), and lowest among individuals from Cape Verde, East Africa, and Southern Africa (0–4%).{{cite web|last1=Kusow|first1=AM|title=African Immigrants in the United States: Implications for Affirmative Action|url=http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=soc_las_pubs|publisher=Iowa State University|access-date=May 10, 2016}} Nonetheless, African immigrants often develop very successful professional and business working-relationships with African Americans. Immigrants from some Caribbean, Central American, and South American nations and their descendants may or may not also self-identify with the term "African American".{{cite web|url=https://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/BlackWhite/BlackDiversityReport/black-diversity03.htm|title=Lewis Mumford Center Census 2000 Metropolitan Racial and Ethnic Change Series|date=October 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012170004/https://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/BlackWhite/BlackDiversityReport/black-diversity03.htm|archive-date=October 12, 2007}}

Recent African immigrants in the United States come from countries such as Jamaica, Haiti, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, Guyana, and Somalia.{{cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2022/01/20/the-caribbean-is-the-largest-origin-source-of-black-immigrants-but-fastest-growth-is-among-african-immigrants/|title=1. The Caribbean is the largest origin source of Black immigrants, but fastest growth is among African immigrants|first=Shannon|last=Greenwood|date=January 20, 2022}}

=Asian Americans=

{{Main|Asian Americans|East Asian Americans|Southeast Asian Americans|South Asian Americans}}

A third significant minority is the Asian American population, which comprised 19.36 million people, or 5.9% of the US population, in 2019. In 2019, 6.12 million Asian Americans lived in California. As of 2019, approximately 532,300 Asians live in Hawaii, forming 37.6% of the islands' people. This makes Hawaii the state with the highest percentage of Asian Americans.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=B02001. RACE – Universe: TOTAL POPULATION regions and states |access-date=April 25, 2010 |work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau }} Although they were historically first concentrated in Hawaii and the West Coast, Asian Americans now live across the country, living and working in large numbers in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Houston, and other major urban centers. There are also many Asians living in two Pacific US territories (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands){{snd}}as of 2010, Guam's population was 32.2% Asian, and the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 49.9% Asian.{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPGU_GUDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413071617/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPGU_GUDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=April 13, 2016 |title=American FactFinder |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}
{{Cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPMP_MPDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106145130/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPMP_MPDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |work=American FactFinder |title=Guam / Northern Mariana Islands Demographic Profile Data |date=2010 |access-date=November 29, 2019}}

Filipinos have been in the territories that would become the United States since the 16th century. In 1635, an "East Indian" is listed in Jamestown, Virginia; preceding wider settlement of Indian immigrants on the East Coast in the 1790s and the West Coast in the 1800s. In 1763, Filipinos established the small settlement of Saint Malo, Louisiana, after fleeing mistreatment aboard Spanish ships. Since there were no Filipino women with them, these "Manilamen", as they were known, married Cajun and indigenous women. The first Japanese person to come to the United States, and stay any significant period of time was Nakahama Manjirō who reached the East Coast in 1841, and Joseph Heco became the first Japanese American naturalized US citizen in 1858. As with the new immigration from central and eastern Europe to the East Coast from the mid-19th century on, Asians started immigrating to the United States in large numbers in the 19th century. This first major wave of immigration consisted predominantly of Chinese and Japanese laborers, but also included Korean and South Asian immigrants. Many immigrants also came during and after this period from the Philippines, which was a US colony from 1898 to 1946. Exclusion laws and policies largely prohibited and curtailed Asian immigration until the 1940s. After the US changed its immigration laws during the 1940s to 1960s to make entry easier, a much larger new wave of immigration from Asia began. Today, the largest self-identified Asian American sub-groups, according to census data, are Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, and Japanese Americans, among other groups.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/asianamericans-graphics/|title=Asian Americans|date=June 18, 2012|website=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project|access-date=June 7, 2016}}

Not all of Asian Americans' ancestors directly migrated from their country of origin to the US. For example, more than 270,000 people from Guyana, a South American country, reside in the US, but a predominant number of Guyanese people are of Indian descent.{{Cite web |date=May 9, 2016 |title=10 Facts about Guyanese Immigrants in the US You Should Know |url=https://www.newsamericasnow.com/10-fast-facts-about-guyanese-immigrants-in-the-us-you-should-know/}}

=Middle Eastern and North African Americans=

{{Main|Middle Eastern Americans|North Africans in the United States}}

Middle Eastern Americans and North African Americans are Americans with ancestry from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). There are an estimated 3.5 million Middle Eastern Americans according to the US Census Bureau in 2020 comprising 1.06% of the population{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-mena-population.html|title=3.5 Million Reported Middle Eastern and North African Descent in 2020|date=September 21, 2023|website=Census.gov|accessdate= May 21, 2024}} and including both Arab and non-Arab Americans.{{cite book|title=The Arab Americans|last1=Kayyali|first1=Randa|date=2006|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|pages=45–64}} The Arab American Institute in 2014 estimated a population of 3.6 million.{{cite web|url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aai/pages/9843/attachments/original/1460668240/National_Demographic_Profile_2014.pdf?1460668240|title=Demographics|author1=Arab American Institute Foundation|date=2014|access-date=February 6, 2018}} US census population estimates are based on responses to the ancestry question on the census, which makes it difficult to accurately count Middle Eastern Americans.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-21.pdf|title=We the People of Arab Ancestry in the United States|author1=Angela Brittingham|author2=G. Patricia de la Cruz|date=2005|website=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=February 6, 2018}} Though Middle Eastern American communities can be found in each of the 50 states, the majority live in just 10 states; nearly a third live in California, New York, and Michigan.{{cite web|url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aai/pages/9843/attachments/original/1432919063/quickfacts.pdf?1432919063|title=Quick Facts about Arab Americans|website=Arab American Institute|access-date=February 9, 2018}} More Middle Eastern Americans live in California than any other state, with ethnic groups such as Arabs, Persians, and Armenians being a large percentage, but Middle Eastern Americans represent the highest percentage of the population of Michigan.{{cite web|url=https://www.arabamerica.com/california/|title=Arab American community in California, the largest|website=Arab America}} In particular, Dearborn, Michigan has long been home to a high concentration of Middle Eastern Americans.{{Cite book|title=Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream.|last1=Nabeel|first1=Abraham|last2=Shryock|first2=Andrew|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2000|isbn=9780814328125|location=Detroit, Michigan|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/arabdetroitfromm00}}{{Cite book|title=Arabs in Michigan|last=Hassoun|first=Rosina|publisher=Michigan State University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780870136672|location=East Lansing, Michigan}}

The US Census Bureau is still finalizing the ethnic classification of MENA populations. Middle Eastern Americans are currently counted as racially White on the census, although many do not identify as such. In 2012, prompted in part by post-9/11 discrimination, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee petitioned the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency to designate the MENA populations as a minority/disadvantaged community.[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/13/stateline-census-mena-africa-mideast/13999239/ "Lobbying for a 'MENA' category on U.S. Census"] Wiltz, Teresea. USA Today. Published October 7, 2014. Accessed December 14, 2015. Following consultations with MENA organizations, the US Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arab world, separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The expert groups felt that the earlier "White" designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization.{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Debra Nussbaum|title=New U.S. Census Category to Include Israeli' Option|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/.premium-1.661491|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=December 16, 2015}} This process does not currently include ethnoreligious groups such as Sikhs, as the Bureau only tabulates these groups as followers of religions rather than members of ethnic groups.{{cite web|title=2015 National Content Test|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/2020-census/2015_census_tests/nct/2015-nct-omb-package.pdf|pages=33–34|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|quote=The Office of Management and Budget is undertaking related mid-decade research for coding and classifying detailed national origins and ethnic groups, and is considering adding a Middle Eastern or North African checkbox in a combined race and ethnicity question. Our consultations with external experts on the Asian community have also suggested Sikh receive a unique code classified under Asian. The Census Bureau does not currently tabulate on religious responses to the race or ethnic questions (e.g., Sikh, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Lutheran, etc.).|access-date=December 13, 2015}}

According to the Arab American Institute, countries of origin for Arab Americans include Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As of December 2015, the sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well as Armenian, Afghan, Iranian, Israeli, Azerbaijani, and Georgian groups.{{cite web|title=2015 National Content Test|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/2020-census/2015_census_tests/nct/2015-nct-omb-package.pdf|page=60|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=December 13, 2015}} The new category will identify "Israeli" as a choice and raises questions as to how the large US Jewish population (7-8 million) will identify.{{Cite news|first=Maya|last=Mirsky|title=Are Jews white? Proposed census change wades into issue|newspaper=The Jewish News of Northern California|date=May 4, 2023|url=https://jweekly.com/2023/05/04/are-jews-white-proposed-census-change-wades-into-issue/|via=Newspapers.com}}

The new question on the US census will identify the MENA category to include:{{cite web|title=What Updates to OMB's Race/Ethnicity Standards Mean for the Census Bureau|website=United States Census Bureau|date=April 8, 2024|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2024/04/updates-race-ethnicity-standards.html}}

:"Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of the Middle East or North Africa, including, for example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Israeli."

=Native Americans and Alaska Natives=

{{Main|Native Americans in the United States|Alaska Natives}}

Indigenous peoples of the Americas, particularly Native Americans, made up 1.1% of the population in 2020, numbering 3.7 million. An additional 5.9 million persons declared part-American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry, totaling 2.9% of the population.{{cite web|url=https://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/research-data/prc-publications/Overview_of_2020_AIAN_Redistricting_Data_FINAL_8_13_2021.pdf |title=Overview of 2020 AIAN Redistricting Data: 2020 |access-date=January 16, 2022}} Levels of Native American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity) differ. According to a study using data from 23andMe customers, genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged to 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged to 18.0%.{{cite journal |last1=Bryc |first1=Katarzyna |last2=Durand |first2=Eric Y. |last3=Macpherson |first3=J. Michael |last4=Reich |first4=David |last5=Mountain |first5=Joanna L. |date=January 2015 |title=The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=37–53 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.11.010 |pmid=25529636 |pmc=4289685 |issn=0002-9297}}{{cite news |last1=Carl Zimmer |title=White? Black? A Murky Distinction Grows Still Murkier |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/science/23andme-genetic-ethnicity-study.html |access-date=October 21, 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=December 24, 2014 |quote=The researchers found that European-Americans had genomes that were on average 98.6 percent European, .19 percent African, and .18 percent Native American.}} Another genetic study from 2018 found an average of 38% Native American ancestry in Latinos, 1% in African Americans, and 0.1% in European Americans.{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=I. King |last2=Rishishwar |first2=Lavanya |last3=Conley |first3=Andrew B. |date=2019-09-23 |title=Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008225 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=6756731 |pmid=31545791}}

The legal and official designation of who is Native American has aroused controversy by demographers, tribal nations, and government officials for many decades. Federally recognized tribes and state recognized tribes set their own membership requirements; tribal enrollment may require residency on a reservation, documented lineal descent from recognized records, such as the Dawes Rolls, and other criteria. Some tribes have adopted the use of blood quantum, requiring members to have a certain percentage. The federal government requires individuals to certify documented blood quantum of ancestry for certain federal programs, such as education benefits, available to members of recognized tribes. Census takers accept any respondent's identification. Genetic scientists estimate that millions of other Americans, including some African Americans and many Hispanic Americans (especially those of Mexican heritage), may have significant Native ancestry.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Among the Hispanic population, numbering over 60 million in total, a genetic study from 2018 has found an average of 38% Native American ancestry.{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=I. King |last2=Rishishwar |first2=Lavanya |last3=Conley |first3=Andrew B. |date=2019-09-23 |title=Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008225 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=6756731 |pmid=31545791}}

Once thought to face extinction as a race or culture, Native Americans of numerous tribes have achieved revival of aspects of their cultures, and have fought to retain sovereignty and control of their own affairs for centuries. In recent years, many have started language programs to revive use of traditional languages, established tribally controlled colleges and other schools on their reservations, and developed gaming casinos on their sovereign land to raise revenues for economic development, as well as to promote the education and welfare of their people through health care and construction of improved housing.

Today, more than 800,000 to one million persons claim Cherokee descent in part or as full-bloods; of these, an estimated 300,000 live in California, 160,000 in Oklahoma (of which a majority are Cherokee Nation citizens), and 15,000 in North Carolina, living in ancestral homelands as members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.{{cite web|url=https://research.dom.edu/c.php?g=1098125&p=8021131#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20Cherokee%20Nation%20is,reservation%20boundaries%20in%20northeastern%20Oklahoma.|title=Research Guides and Class Pages: Native American & Indigenous Studies: Cherokee}}

The second largest tribal group is the Navajo, who call themselves Diné and live on a 16{{nbh}}million-acre{{efn|25 thousand square miles, 65 thousand square kilomters}} Indian reservation covering northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southeast Utah. It is home to half of the 450,000 members of the Navajo Nation.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} The third largest group are the Lakota (Sioux) Nation, with distinct federally recognized tribes located in the states of Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming; and North and South Dakota.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}{{clarify|official tribal figures or Census self-identifiers?|date=April 2021}}

As of the 2020 census, the largest self-identified Native American group not combined with another race is Aztec, numbering 378,122 individuals. Though Aztecs are indigenous to Mexico and not the United States, they are nevertheless considered Native American people per census guidelines, which includes any indigenous people from the Americas.{{cite web|author=United States Census Bureau|title=Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Data for Nearly 1,500 Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups, Tribes and Villages|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/2020-census-detailed-dhc-file-a.html|access-date=2024-04-01|website=Census.gov}}{{cite news|date=2023-10-27|title=Analysis {{!}} The Native American population exploded, the census shows. Here's why.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/27/native-americans-2020-census/|access-date=2024-04-01|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}} Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, with this number growing as increasing numbers of Indigenous people from Latin American countries immigrate to the US and more Latinos self-identify with indigenous heritage.{{cite web|title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter|url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US|access-date=2024-07-15|website=censusreporter.org}}

=Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders Americans=

{{Main|Native Hawaiians|Pacific Islander Americans}}

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered approximately 656,400 in 2019, or 0.2% of the population. Additionally, nearly as many individuals identify themselves as having partial Native Hawaiian ancestry, for a total of 829,949 people of full or part Native Hawaiian ancestry.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=B02012. NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH ONE OR MORE OTHER RACES |access-date=May 11, 2010 |work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau }} This group constitutes the smallest minority in the United States. More than half identify as "full-blooded", but historically most Native Hawaiians on the island chain of Hawaii are believed to have some Asian and European ancestry.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Some demographers believe that by 2025, the last full-blooded Native Hawaiian will die off, leaving a culturally distinct but racially mixed population.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} However, throughout Hawaii, they are working to preserve and assert adaptation of Native Hawaiian customs and the Hawaiian language by establishing cultural schools solely for legally Native Hawaiian students and more.

There are significant Pacific Islander populations living in three Pacific US territories (American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands). As of 2010, American Samoa's population was 92.6% Pacific Islander (mostly Samoan), Guam's population was 49.3% Pacific Islander (mostly Chamorro), and the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 34.9% Pacific Islander.{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPAS_ASDP1&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503200517/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DPAS_ASDP1&prodType=table |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |work=American FactFinder |title=American Samoa 2010 Demographic Profile |access-date=November 29, 2019}} Out of all US states/territories, American Samoa has the highest percentage of Pacific Islanders.

=Two or more races=

{{Main|Multiracial Americans}}

Self-identified multiracial Americans numbered 7.0 million in 2008, or 2.3% of the population.{{cite web |title=B02001. Race – Universe: Total Population |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=February 28, 2010 |work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau}} They have identified as any combination of races (White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and "some other race") and ethnicities.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-6.pdf |title=The Two or More Races Population: 2000. Census 2000 Brief |access-date=May 8, 2008 |last=Jones |first=Nicholas A. |author2=Amy Symens Smith |publisher=United States Census Bureau}} The US has a growing multiracial identity movement.

While the colonies and southern states protected White fathers by making all children born to slave mothers be classified as slaves, regardless of paternity, they also banned miscegenation or interracial marriage, most notably between Whites and Blacks. However, this did little to stop interracial relationships. Demographers state that, due to new waves of immigration, the American people through the early 20th century were mostly multi-ethnic descendants of various immigrant nationalities, who maintained cultural distinctiveness until, over time, assimilation, migration and integration took place.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} The civil rights movement through the 20th century gained passage of important legislation to enforce constitutional rights of minorities, including multiracial Americans.

The multiracial population that is part White is the largest percentage of the multiracial population. As of the 2000 census, 7,015,017 people self-identified as White/American Indian and Alaskan Native, 737,492 as White/Black, 727,197 as White/Asian, and 125,628 as White/Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.{{cite web |url=http://www.csupomona.edu/~mreibel/2000_Census_Files/Allen-Turner.doc |title=Allen Turner |access-date=November 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002234040/http://www.csupomona.edu/~mreibel/2000_Census_Files/Allen-Turner.doc |archive-date=October 2, 2008 }}

==Genetic admixture==

A 2002 study found an average of 18.6% European genetic contribution and 2.7% Native American genetic contribution (with standard errors of 1.5% and 1.4% respectively) in a sample of 232 African Americans.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} Meanwhile, in a sample of 187 European Americans from State College, Pennsylvania, there was an average of 0.7% West African genetic contribution and 3.2% Native American genetic contribution (with standard errors of 0.9% and 1.6% respectively). Most of the non-European admixture was concentrated in 30% of the sample, with West African admixture ranging from 2 to 20% with an average of 2.3%.{{cite journal|author=Mark D. Shriver|display-authors=etal|title=Skin pigmentation, biogeographical ancestry and admixture mapping|journal=Human Genetics|date=2003|volume=112|issue=4|pages=387–399|doi=10.1007/s00439-002-0896-y|pmid=12579416|s2cid=7877572|url=https://homepages.uc.edu/~nortonhr/MoCHA/Publications_files/Shriver%20et%20el%202003.pdf|access-date=August 24, 2017}}

In 1958, Robert Stuckert produced a statistical analysis using historical census data and immigration statistics. He concluded that the growth in the White population could not be attributed solely to births in the White population and immigration from Europe, but was also due to people identifying as White who were partly Black. He concluded that 21% of White Americans had some recent African-American ancestors and that the majority of Americans of known African descent were partly European and not entirely sub-Saharan African.{{cite web|url=https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/4532/1/V58N03_155.pdf |title=Robert Stuckert, "African Ancestry Of The White American Population" |access-date=May 16, 2013}}

More recently, many different DNA studies have shown that many African Americans have European admixture, reflecting the long history in this country of the various populations. Proportions of European admixture in African-American DNA have been found in studies to be 17%{{cite journal | last1 = Collins-Schramm | first1 = Heather E. | year = 2002 | title = Markers that Discriminate Between European and African Ancestry Show Limited Variation Within Africa | journal = Human Genetics | volume = 111 | issue = 6| pages = 566–569 | doi=10.1007/s00439-002-0818-z | pmid=12436248| s2cid = 30319228 }} and between 10.6% and 22.5%.{{cite journal | last1 = Parra | first1 = Esteban J. | author-link11 = Mark D. Shriver | last2 = Marcini | first2 = Amy | last3 = Akey | first3 = Joshua | last4 = Martinson | first4 = Jeremy | last5 = Batzer | first5 = Mark A. | last6 = Cooper | first6 = Richard | last7 = Forrester | first7 = Terrence | last8 = Allison | first8 = David B. | last9 = Deka | first9 = Ranjan | last10 = Ferrell | first10 = Robert E. | last11 = Shriver | first11 = Mark D. | year = 1998 | title = Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population- Specific Alleles | url = http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/ParraAJHG1998.pdf | journal = American Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 63 | issue = 6 | pages = 1839–1851 | doi = 10.1086/302148 | pmid = 9837836 | pmc = 1377655 | access-date = May 16, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090304020232/http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/ParraAJHG1998.pdf | archive-date = March 4, 2009 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }} Another recent study found the average to be 21.2%, with a standard error of 1.2%.

The Race, Ethnicity, and Genetics Working Group of the National Human Genome Research Institute notes that "although genetic analyses of large numbers of loci can produce estimates of the percentage of a person's ancestors coming from various continental populations, these estimates may assume a false distinctiveness of the parental populations, since human groups have exchanged mates from local to continental scales throughout history."{{Cite journal |pmc = 1275602|year = 2005|author=((Race, Ethnicity, and Genetics Working Group)) |title = The Use of Racial, Ethnic, and Ancestral Categories in Human Genetics Research|journal = American Journal of Human Genetics|volume = 77|issue = 4|pages = 519–532|pmid = 16175499|doi = 10.1086/491747}}

=Members of other races=

{{Expand section||small=no|date=January 2022}}

In the 2000 census, the non-standard category of "Other" was especially intended to capture responses such as mestizo and mulatto, two large multiracial groups in most of the countries of origin of Hispanic and Latino Americans. However, many other responses are captured by the category.

In 2008, 15 million people, nearly five percent of the total US population, were estimated to be "some other race", with 95% of them being Hispanic or Latino.

Due to this category's non-standard status, statistics from government agencies other than the Census Bureau (for example, the Centers for Disease Control's data on vital statistics, or the FBI's crime statistics), but also the Bureau's own official Population Estimates, omit the "some other race" category and include most of the people in this group in the White population, thus including the vast majority (about 90%) of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the White population.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ |title=The World Factbook – United States |access-date=May 8, 2008 |publisher=CIA}}

Ancestry

The ancestry of the people of the United States is widely varied and includes descendants of populations from around the world. In addition to its variation, the ancestry of people in the United States is also marked by varying amounts of intermarriage between ethnic and racial groups.

While some Americans can trace their ancestry back to a single ethnic group or population in Europe, Africa, or Asia, these are often first, second and third-generation Americans. Generally, the degree of mixed heritage increases the longer people's ancestors have lived in the United States (see melting pot). There are several means available to discover the ancestry of the people living in the United States, including genealogy, genetics, oral and written history, and analysis of Federal Population Census schedules; in practice, only few of these have been used for a larger part of the population.

File:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.svg (not majority) ethnic background in each county in the US in 2000:

German

English

Norwegian

Dutch

Finnish

Irish

French

Italian

Mexican

Native

Spanish

American

African American

Puerto Rican

]]

File:Ancestry map of the United States, 2016.png

File:Most common ancestries in the United States.svg, ranging from 11.8% (FL) to 43.9 % (ND): {{Legend0|#0075ff|German}} {{Legend0|#ff0000|American}} {{Legend0|#ff7600|Mexican}} {{Legend0|#007500|Irish}} {{Legend0|#00ffff|African}} {{Legend0|#7500ff|Italian}} {{Legend0|#750075|English}} {{Legend0|#ffff00|Japanese}} {{Legend0|#d93190|Puerto Rican}}]]

=2022 American Community Survey=

This table displays all self-reported ancestries with over 50,000 members, alone or in combination, according to estimates from the 2022 American Community Survey. The total population of the US according to the survey was 333,287,550, and 251,732,240 people reported an ancestry. Of these, 175,054,020 reported a single ancestry, and 76,678,224 reported two or more ancestries.{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B04007 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B04007&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}} Hispanic groups are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry{{Cite web |title=Grid View: Table B04006 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B04006&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B03001 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03001&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02018 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02018&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02017 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02017&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02019 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02019&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}

class="wikitable sortable"

!Ancestry

!Number in 2022 (Alone){{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B04004 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B04004&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=censusreporter.org}}

!Number as of 2022 (Alone or in any combination)

!% Total

Black or African American

(Including Afro-Caribbean and sub-Saharan African)

|41,104,200

|46,936,733

|14.2%

English

|25,536,902

|46,612,345

|14.1%

German

|15,447,670

|44,978,546

|13.6%

Irish

|8,649,243

|38,597,428

|11.9%

Mexican

|—

|37,414,772

|11.2%

French

(Not including French Canadian)

|25,853,902

|25,853,902

|7.4%

American

(Mostly old-stock white Americans of British descent)

|14,929,899

|19,364,103

|5.9%

Italian

|5,953,262

|17,767,630

|5.4%

Scottish

|1,471,817

|8,422,613

|3.6%

Indigenous American

(No tribe specified)

|3,727,135

|9,666,058

|2.9%

Polish

|2,744,941

|8,810,275

|2.7%

Puerto Rican

|—

|5,905,178

|1.8%

Chinese

(Not including Taiwanese)

|4,258,198

|5,465,428

|1.6%

Indian

|4,534,339

|4,946,306

|1.5%

Broadly "European"

(No country specified)

|3,718,055

|4,819,541

|1.4%

Filipino

|2,969,978

|4,466,918

|1.3%

Swedish

|740,478

|3,936,772

|1.2%

Norwegian

|1,224,373

|3,317,462

|1.0%

Dutch

|858,809

|3,019,465

|0.9%

Scotch-Irish

|940,337

|2,524,746

|0.8%

Salvadoran

|—

|2,480,509

|0.7%

Cuban

|—

|2,435,573

|0.7%

Dominican

|—

|2,396,784

|0.7%

Vietnamese

|1,887,550

|2,301,868

|0.7%

Other Hispanic or Latino

(Including Hispano, Californio, Tejano, Isleño, and unspecified Hispanic origins)

|—

|2,276,867

|0.7%

Arab

(Including Lebanese (583,719), Egyptian (334,574), Syrian (203,282), Palestinian (171,969), Iraqi (164,851), Moroccan (140,196), and all other Arab ancestries)

|1,502,360

|2,237,982

|0.7%

Russian

|747,866

|2,099,079

|0.6%

Korean

|1,501,587

|2,051,572

|0.6%

Spanish

(Including responses of "Spaniard", "Spanish", and "Spanish American". Many Hispanos of New Mexico identify as Spanish/Spaniard)

|—

|1,926,228

|0.6%

Guatemalan

|—

|1,878,599

|0.6%

Broadly “African

(Not further specified)

|1,297,668

|1,721,108

|0.5%

French Canadian

|694,089

|1,626,456

|0.5%

Japanese

|717,413

|1,587,040

|0.5%

Welsh

|293,551

|1,521,565

|0.5%

Colombian

|—

|1,451,271

|0.4%

Portuguese

|543,531

|1,350,442

|0.4%

Hungarian

|390,561

|1,247,165

|0.4%

Jamaican

|903,516

|1,234,336

|0.4%

Honduran

|—

|1,219,212

|0.4%

Greek

|486,878

|1,200,706

|0.4%

Broadly “British

(Not further specified)

|503,077

|1,196,265

|0.4%

Czech

|340,768

|1,188,711

|0.4%

Ukrainian

|565,431

|1,164,728

|0.3%

Haitian

|937,373

|1,138,855

|0.3%

Danish

|268,019

|1,127,518

|0.3%

Broadly "Eastern European"

(Not further specified)

|566,715

|951,384

|0.3%

Broadly "Scandinavian"

(Not further specified)

|372,673

|935,153

|0.3%

Indigenous Mexican

|548,717

|875,183

|0.3%

Ecuadorian

|—

|870,965

|0.3%

Swiss

|196,120

|847,247

|0.3%

Venezuelan

|—

|814,080

|0.2%

Peruvian

|—

|751,519

|0.2%

Native Hawaiian

|185,466

|714,847

|0.2%

Nigerian

|532,438

|712,294

|0.2%

Indigenous Central American

(Mayan, etc)

|315,313

|634,503

|0.2%

Pakistani

|560,494

|625,570

|0.2%

Finnish

|189,603

|606,028

|0.2%

Slovak

|186,902

|602,949

|0.2%

Lithuanian

|167,355

|598,508

|0.2%

Broadly "Asian"

(Not further specified)

|218,730

|591,806

|0.2%

Austrian

|123,987

|584,517

|0.2%

Brazilian

|389,082

|546,757

|0.2%

Canadian

|249,309

|542,459

|0.2%

Iranian

|392,051

|519,658

|0.2%

However, demographers regard the reported number of English Americans as a statistical error, as the index of inconsistency is high and many, if not most, Americans from English stock have a tendency to identify simply as Americans,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SVoAXh-dNuYC&q=Sharing+the+dream:+white+males+in+multicultural+America++english+ancestry&pg=PA57|title=Sharing the Dream: White Males in Multicultural America|first=Dominic|last=Pulera|date=October 20, 2004|publisher=A&C Black|access-date=August 21, 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9780826416438}}Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44-46.Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, "Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82-86. or, if of mixed European ancestry, with a different European ethnic group.Mary C. Waters, Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 36.

=Ancestry maps=

==Major ancestries==

These images display frequencies of self-reported ancestries, as of the 2000 US census. Regional African ancestries are not listed, though an African American map has been added from another source.

File:American1346.gif|Frequency of American ancestry

File:New 2000 asian density.gif|Density of Asian Americans

File:New 2000 asian percent.gif|Percent of Asian Americans

File:New 2000 black density.gif|Density of African Americans

File:New 2000 black percent.gif|Percent of African Americans

File:New 2000 hawaiian density.gif|Density of Pacific Islander Americans

File:New 2000 hawaiian percent.gif|Percent of Pacific Islander Americans

File:New 2000 indian density.gif|Density of Native Americans

File:New 2000 indian percent.gif|Percent of Native Americans

File:New 2000 white density.gif|Density of White Americans

File:New 2000 white percent.gif|Percent of White Americans

File:USA 2000 black density.png|African ancestry

File:Arab1346.png|Arab ancestry

File:New 2000 hispanic density.gif|Density of Hispanic ancestry

File:New 2000 hispanic percent.gif|Percent of Hispanic ancestry

File:Census Bureau Westindians in the United States.png|West Indian ancestry

==European American ancestries==

These images display frequencies of self-reported European American ancestries as of the 2000 US census.

File:Czech1346.gif|Czech ancestry

File:Distribution of Danish Americans according to 2000.gif|Danish ancestry

File:Dutch1346.gif|Dutch ancestry

File:Census Bureau English Ancestry in the United States.gif|English ancestry

File:Pct finnish4.png|Finnish ancestry

File:French1346.gif|French ancestry

File:Census Bureau French Canadians in the United States.gif|French Canadian ancestry

Distribution of Americans claiming German Ancestry by county in 2018.png|German ancestry

File:Greek1346.gif|Greek ancestry

Distribution of Americans claiming Hungarian Ancestry by county in 2018.png|Hungarian ancestry

File:Census Bureau 2000, Icelandic Americans in the United States.png|Icelandic ancestry

File:Irish1346.gif|Irish ancestry

File:Lithuanian1346.gif|Lithuanian ancestry

File:Norwegian1346.gif|Norwegian ancestry

Distribution of Americans claiming Polish Ancestry by county in 2018.png|Polish ancestry

File:Portuguese1346.gif|Portuguese ancestry

File:Romanian1346.gif|Romanian ancestry

File:Russian1346.gif|Russian ancestry

File:Census Bureau Scotch-Irish Ancestry in the United States.gif|Scotch-Irish ancestry

File:Census Bureau Scottish Americans in the United States.gif|Scottish ancestry

File:Slovak1346.gif|Slovak ancestry

File:Swedish Americans 2000 Census.svg|Swedish ancestry

File:Census Bureau Ukrainians in the United States.gif|Ukrainian ancestry

File:Census Bureau Welsh Ancestry in the United States.gif|Welsh ancestry

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}