The Census Bureau collects race data according to U.S. Office of Management and Budget guidelines, and these data are based on self-identification. People may choose to report more than one race group. People of any race may be of any ethnic origin.
Office of Minority Health (OMH) Resource Center provides minority health literature, research and referrals for consumers, community organizations and health professionals.
Racial Identities
American Indian or Alaska Native
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
- Alaska Native Heritage Center - site for cultural center located in Anchorage, Alaska that promotes active observance of Alaska Native culture, traditions, and Native Language.
- Living Nations, Living Words - Library of Congress project created to introduce people to Native American poets. Features a sampling of work by 47 Native Nations poets through an interactive ArcGIS Story Map and a newly developed audio collection.
- Native Hope - organization working to address injustice done to Native Americans by sharing Native stories, providing educational resources, and assisting Native communities. Site includes the Native Story (past, present and future) and Native voices including a blog.
Asian Americans
earlier designation as Asian American and Pacific Islander; some resources may still use this older category
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Black or African American
A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
- I Am Not Your Negro - Using James Baldwin's unfinished final manuscript, Remember This House, this documentary follows the lives and successive assassinations of three of the author's friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., delving into the legacy of these iconic figures and narrating historic events using Baldwin's original words and a flood of rich archival material.
- Code Switch - Podcast series of conversations about race and its impact on all aspects of society, hosted by journalists of color.
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
- Mokuola Honua - mission is "to reestablish the prominence of indigenous perspectives in modern contexts, in our homelands and globally, from a strong foundation of fluency in our mother tongues."
- Off Shore: Far From Home - special project from Honolulu Civil Beat that explores the Native Hawaiian diaspora and painful questions about identity, family and culture. The Civil Beat website includes a wide variety of local journalism about current issues impacting native Hawaiian people and culture.
White
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
Ethnicity
U.S. federal government agencies must adhere to standards issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which specify that race and Hispanic origin (also known as ethnicity) are two separate and distinct concepts.
Hispanic or Latinx
- Boston's Latino Community History - The documents, images, and posters in this digital archive document public policy formation, community relations, affordable housing, urban planning and housing rehabilitation, cultural and educational programming, violence prevention, and minority rights in Boston during the last decades of the 20th century.
- Pew Research Center: Hispanic Trends Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.
- When Labels Don't Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity - This report from Pew Research Center explores Latinos’ attitudes about their identity; their language usage patterns; their core values; and their views about the U.S. and their families’ country of origin.