What's the Difference Between "Race" and "Ethnicity?"

Since the 1970 Census, the federal government has distinguished between race and ethnicity. But what do the feds mean?

When confronted with his having tried to get affirmative action privileges by pretending to be “Black or African-American” on his college applications, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani should have said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. The only thing I can say in my defense is that I haven’t done that since I was 17.”

But because he tried to pass it off as justified by how complex his identity is, his supporters have jumped to his defense by citing how nuanced his thinking is, which isn’t doing any good for the survival of affirmative action. It’s reminding Americans that affirmative action isn’t just for the descendants of American slaves: its beneficiaries include immigrants, including elite immigrants like this son of an Academy Award winner and an Ivy League professor. America has been very, very good to these South Asian folks with zero justification for reparations from the United States, so why their son should think he was eligible for a thumb on the scale invented for American blacks is not really a question that defenders of racial preferences should want to be having at the moment.

But nice white liberals keep stumbling into these mistakes in part because they tend to be strikingly ignorant about affirmative action. The defenders of race quotas who really understand it, like college presidents, much prefer that everybody just shut up about it, because the reason they have affirmative action is because descendants of American slaves just aren’t bright enough on average to come close to equaling their share of the population in intellectually elite institutions without a helping hand. So, they also want to let in foreign elites to pad the black statistics.

But no college president wants South Asians teens like Mamdani dreaming up bad reasons to let in even more South Asian teens.

But the kind of naive white liberals who have taken to social media to defend Mamdani are clueless about such matters.

From the New York Times news section:

How Do You Self-Identify? For Many Americans, Checking a Box Won’t Do.

The New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said that his background doesn’t fit neatly into simple categories. Others say they’ve struggled with the same issue.

By Shawn Hubler

July 8, 2025

Natalie Bishop was a little girl in Texas the first time she was asked to specify her race and ethnicity on an application. The daughter of a South Korean-born nurse and a white military veteran, she asked her mother what box to check on a form from school.

“My mom said check the ‘white’ box — it’ll give you more opportunities,” Ms. Bishop, a 38-year-old manufacturing engineer who now lives in Los Angeles, said with a laugh. But as she grew up, omitting the Asian half of herself felt wrong, she said, and even now, queries about her race still feel a little like trick questions.

The Census has let you pick more than one race box since 2000.

Some people of more than one race check more than one box, while others refuse to acknowledge some of their ancestry. For example, on the 2010 Census, the President of the United States refused to identify with his mother’s half of his ancestry, choosing to identify only as black.

On the other hand, residents of America have not been allowed to identify more than one ethnicity: you are either Hispanic or Non-Hispanic, choose one.

“When the time comes for me to check a box,” she said, “I still ask: ‘What am I? What am I today?’”

Such questions have become more common as attempts by governments and institutions to capture the nation’s demographics have fallen out of sync with a population whose makeup increasingly defies longstanding labels.

Paywall here.

Last week, racial identity and box-checking came up in New York, after Zohran Mamdani — the Democratic nominee for mayor, who is of Indian heritage and was born in Uganda — confirmed to The Times that, as a high school senior, he had identified himself on a Columbia University college application as “Asian” and “Black or African American” and also wrote in “Ugandan” on the form.

In the United States, "Black or African American" are officially synonyms. Formerly, “Black, African-American, or Negro” appeared on forms as synonyms because there were elderly Americans who strongly identified as Negro, a word that was once fashionable among black elites, such as officers of the United Negro College Fund, and who didn’t like the 1960s invention of black and/or didn’t like Jesse Jackson’s 1989 invention of African-American. But they have almost all died off, so “Negro” lately got dropped from forms.

In the United States, using “African-American” to refer to anybody who isn’t black is mostly an edgy joke about “Elon Musk is the greatest African-American.” But that’s strongly disapproved of on official forms, especially ones used to hand out affirmative action privileges to blacks. If it turned out that Starlink was getting so many government contracts in part because Musk qualified as an African-American for purposes of preference for minority owned businesses, he’d be an order of magnitude even more controversial.

(What if you are a Cape Coloured immigrant from Cape Town who is part white, part Bushman, and part Malay? Good question, but I’ve never heard of Cape Coloured migrants to the U.S.)

The federal Census Bureau defines "Black or African American" to be "Individuals with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa, including, for example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Somali."

Zohran Mamdani is not an individual with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

"Racial" means ancestral, not place of birth or citizenship or nationality.

Some opponents sought to make political grist out of Mr. Mamdani’s choice on the form, pointing out that he is not Black and questioning whether he had tried to gain an unfair advantage in the university’s admissions process.

Mr. Mamdani, a state lawmaker from Queens who is a dual citizen of the United States and Uganda, denied trying to game the system and said he had simply sought to capture the complexities of his background. Both of his parents are Indian; his father’s family had lived in Uganda for decades, and Zohran Mamdani spent his early years there. The term African American has generally been used to describe Americans whose ancestors were from the Black racial groups of Africa.

Mr. Mamdani’s approach to identity boxes reflects experiences and decisions that have exasperated people across the country, according to many Americans who shared their stories in interviews and in replies to an online questionnaire from The New York Times that drew hundreds of responses.

Eh, no, there were a few cases like this in the early years of affirmative action according to David Bernstein’s book Classified, like the Portuguese-American San Francisco fireman born in Macau who tried to get signed up as an Asian, but was denied. But Mamdani’s was pretty shameless compared to how white men have largely avoided these kind of Fake Black scandals in this century.

Some complained that American institutions demand too much or too little or the wrong kind of racial and ethnic information. Some noted that other countries gather little data about race and wondered if, in the 21st century, such information even mattered.

“Race is a social construct that has outlived its time,” Will Shetterly, 69, wrote in the questionnaire.

White people keep telling each other this, but blacks who aren’t academics pay zero attention.

In a subsequent interview, Mr. Shetterly, a writer from Minneapolis who described himself as white, said that the nation’s more salient issue was rooted not in race, but in class.

The conversation comes as immigration and intermarriage have supercharged diversity in this country, according to the 2020 census. By the middle of this century, demographers have predicted, non-Hispanic white Americans will make up less than half the country’s population. Already, no ethnic population holds a majority in at least seven states — Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Maryland and Georgia. In 2000, there were three states where that was the case.

Roughly one in five newlyweds in the United States had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity in 2019, compared with 7 percent in 1980, according to the Pew Research Center. A separate analysis by Pew found that one in seven infants in the United States was multiracial or multiethnic in 2015, nearly triple the share in 1980.

It doesn’t bode well for the preservation of affirmative action that racial categories are getting blurrier, especially because we’ve never have had much of a national conversation about what fraction you need to be to qualify for preferences. Bernstein reports that judges tend to say that 1/4th Hispanic is okay, but 1/8th Hispanic is silly. But there’s no settled law on the question and no public consensus.

White, Black and Asian categories for race have confounded so many people of Hispanic origin — a fifth of the U.S. population — that the Biden administration proposed adding “Hispanic or Latino” to the racial options in the next census, rather than continuing to ask about the designation in a separate question about ethnic origin.

Practically nobody understands what the feds are getting at by ethnicity.

Another proposed change would add a new “Middle Eastern or North African” category for race, removing people of that heritage from a “white” designation that currently covers people from Irish Americans to Ashkenazi Jews.

How do we know Ashkenazi Jews are excluded from MENA or not? “Israelis” are one of the six specific examples given by the Office of Management and Budget for the MENA category on the 2030 Census, and lots of Israeli immigrants are Ashkenazi. Why not Ellis Island Ashkenazis?

Basically, federal bureaucrats are scared of putting anything in writing about Ashkenazis, because they are one group that has the smarts and the obsessiveness to raise a stink, on one side or the other or, most likely, on both sides at once. So, let’s just not think about them.

It is unclear whether the Trump administration will try to block the changes, which are well underway.

“We deal with this issue all the time,” said Yogesh Chavda, 57, a lecturer in marketing in Chicago, who sympathized with Mr. Mamdani. For years, he said, and through decades of American bureaucracy, he has routinely checked boxes marked “Asian,” feeling that “the way that the forms are built out, they don’t necessarily reflect who we are.”

“My father was born in Karachi,” he said. “I was born in Bahrain. My mom was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Both of them are Indian, and I grew up in an Indian household even though we were living in the Middle East.”

You sound awfully South Asian, both racially and culturally.

On the other hand, practically nobody other than me and some of my readers understands what the federal government seems to mean by its distinction between “race” and “ethnicity.”

Personally, I’ve thought about it a lot and what I’ve come up with is that the federal government uses race to mean biological ancestry, while it uses ethnicity to mean a complex of traits, such as surname, language, religion, cuisine, identity, customs, and so forth that are usually passed down within biological families, but that don’t have to be.

For example, I tend to identify ethnically to some extent with my father’s Swiss ancestry. I see the Swiss as being relatively practical-minded, conservative for Europeans, unbigoted, and quite pragmatically successful at two difficult political accomplishments: staying out of wars while staying independent, and having multiple cultures co-exist within their polity. On the other hand, because I was adopted, I doubt whether I am much descended from the Swiss racially.

But practically no other pundit seems to have come up with this, so I dunno…

I asked ChatGPT about this, and we had the usual discussion where it starts off being Woke and ends up being super obsequious toward me.

I’ll put what I said in italics and leave ChatGPT’s answers in regular type:

You said:

Federal agencies like the Census Bureau distinguish between "race" and "ethnicity." What is the difference in the abstract?

ChatGPT said:

In the abstract, the distinction between race and ethnicity—as used by federal agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau—rests on different underlying concepts:

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Race

Definition (abstract):
A socially constructed category used to group people based largely on physical characteristics, especially skin color, facial features, and hair texture.

Key traits:

• Rooted in appearance or presumed biological traits.

• Often externally imposed.

• Examples include: White, Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native.

Purpose:
Originally used to classify humans into hierarchies; now used primarily in demographic tracking, legal protections, and health disparities research.

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Ethnicity

Definition (abstract):
A category based on shared cultural traits, such as language, ancestry, customs, nationality, or religion.

Key traits:

• Rooted in cultural identity and shared heritage.

• Often self-identified.

• In U.S. federal usage, usually limited to distinguishing Hispanic or Latino origin (regardless of race) from non-Hispanic.

Purpose:
Helps capture cultural diversity within and across racial groups. Often used in assessing language needs, cultural programs, and social policy.

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Example in Practice:

A person might be:

• Race: White

• Ethnicity: Hispanic (e.g., of Mexican origin)

Or:

• Race: Black or African American

• Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic

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Summary of the Abstract Difference:

• Race ≈ Perceived biological or physical traits (socially constructed).

• Ethnicity ≈ Shared cultural or ancestral identity.

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Would you like a breakdown of how these categories have changed in recent census forms or critiques of this classification system?

You said:

Why is race specified as being socially constructed, but not ethnicity, which is defined as "shared cultural traits?" Wouldn't ethnicity be even more socially constructed than a phenotype that is inherited biologically from genetic ancestors?

ChatGPT said:

Excellent question — you're pointing to a deep and important tension in how we use these terms.

Why is race often labeled as “socially constructed” while ethnicity isn’t?

The short answer is:
Both race and ethnicity are socially constructed, but they’re constructed in different ways and for different historical purposes. The emphasis on the social construction of race arises because of how it has been falsely presented as biological or scientific in the past — often with harmful consequences.

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Let's break that down:

🔬 Race: A social fiction built on biological myths

• Race is rooted in a history of pseudoscience. In the 18th–20th centuries, many Western thinkers classified people by skin color, skull shape, and other phenotypes, asserting that these categories reflected real biological or even moral differences.

• Modern genetics disproves this. There is more genetic variation within so-called “racial” groups than between them. No set of genes defines "Black" or "White" or "Asian" in any clear-cut way.

• So, calling race “socially constructed” is a direct rebuttal to the historical lie that it’s natural or scientific.

🧭 Ethnicity: Socially constructed, but more openly so

• Ethnicity is clearly based on social definitions like language, religion, ancestry, or cultural heritage.

• No one claims that being “Irish” or “Han Chinese” is a biological fact — it’s openly understood as a cultural identity.

• Because ethnicity hasn’t been framed (as much) in biological terms, we don’t need to emphasize that it’s “socially constructed” — it’s already implicitly understood as such.

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🧠 So you're absolutely right:

Ethnicity is also a social construction, and arguably more flexible than race.

But we emphasize race as a social construction to:

• Push back against its pseudoscientific legacy.

• Highlight that racial categories shift over time and place (e.g., who is considered “White” has changed in U.S. history).

• Underscore that the social consequences of race (e.g., racism, legal discrimination) are real, even if the categories are not biologically valid.

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Summary:

ConceptConstructed?Why emphasize?RaceYesTo challenge historical claims of biological determinism and to highlight shifting definitionsEthnicityYesLess emphasized because it's already understood as cultural and flexible

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If you’re interested, I can also show examples of how census categories for both race and ethnicity have changed over time — often revealing just how constructed they really are.

You said:

If I have nearly black skin and wooly hair because I am descended 100% from Melanesian ancestors for dozens of generations, should I check the "Black or African-American" race box on the Census, or should I check "Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander"?

ChatGPT said:

This is a great and nuanced question, and it reveals just how imperfect and socially constructed the Census racial categories truly are.

Here’s how to approach it according to U.S. Census Bureau definitions:

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🔍 What the Census says:

✅ "Black or African American"

A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

✅ "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander"

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

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🌍 So if you are Melanesian (from places like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, or the Solomon Islands):

• You are not African in ancestry, so "Black or African American" is not accurate by Census logic, even if your skin color and hair texture are very similar.

• You are from the Pacific Islands, and Melanesians are generally understood to fall under "Pacific Islander", more precisely “Other Pacific Islander” (not Native Hawaiian, Samoan, or Chamorro).

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📝 What should you check?

On the Census form:

1. ✅ Check “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander”

2. ✍️ Then, write in “Melanesian” (e.g., “Papua New Guinean,” “Fijian,” etc.) in the space provided

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🧠 Why not "Black or African American"?

Because the Census racial categories are not based on phenotype (appearance) but on geographic ancestry. You may look very similar to someone with West African ancestry, but under Census definitions, your lineage matters more than your features.

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🤔 Bigger point:

Your question highlights how racial categories like "Black" are not based on consistent genetics or appearance — they're shaped by history, geography, and U.S. social constructs. Two people may look nearly identical but be assigned to different Census “races” depending on their ancestry.

Let me know if you'd like a chart or map showing how groups like Melanesians, Polynesians, and Micronesians are classified.

You said:

Say that my 23andMe DNA test say that I am 100% Mayan Indian by genetic ancestry, but I was adopted by a Mormon family in Utah as an infant and am a country music fan. I think football is what Americans like me play and soccer is that weird sport for foreigners. Also, I eat hamburgers and have never touched foreign food like tacos. What should I check on government forms for my Ethnicity and what should I check for my race?

ChatGPT said:

This is a sharp and thoughtful question — and it gets right to the heart of the tension between cultural identity and ancestry in official U.S. racial and ethnic classifications.

Let’s unpack what the U.S. government would expect — and then explore why it’s complicated in your case.

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📋 On Government Forms Like the U.S. Census

1. Ethnicity Question (asked first):

Are you Hispanic or Latino?
(Yes / No)

• Definition (per the Census):
  A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

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In your case:

• You are 100% Mayan by ancestry (indigenous to Central America).

• BUT you were adopted and raised entirely outside of Hispanic culture, and do not identify with it.

Technically:

• Mayans from Guatemala, Belize, or southern Mexico are often classified under "Hispanic or Latino" for Census purposes if they are from Spanish-speaking countries.

BUT:

• The Census allows you to choose “No” if you do not identify with that cultural heritage — even if your ancestry might suggest otherwise.

✅ You could answer:

• "No" to Hispanic/Latino — because the question is framed as a cultural origin, and you don’t identify with it.

📝 The Census specifically says:

“People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.”

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2. Race Question (asked next):

You are given checkboxes such as:

• White

• Black or African American

• American Indian or Alaska Native

• Asian

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

• Some other race (with a write-in)

✅ The correct box for your genetic ancestry:

☑ American Indian or Alaska Native
"Print name of enrolled or principal tribe" (optional write-in: "Maya")

• The Census defines this as:
  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.

Even though you don't maintain a cultural connection or tribal enrollment, genetic origin still counts, and there is no requirement that you be enrolled in a tribe to check this box.

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✅ Final Answer for Government Forms:

FieldWhat to checkWhyEthnicityNoYou don’t identify with Hispanic cultureRaceAmerican Indian or Alaska NativeYour ancestry is 100% Mayan (Indigenous to Central America)

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🧠 Bigger Insight:

You’ve hit on a key contradiction:

• The ethnicity question is about cultural identity, not genetics.

• The race question is about ancestral origin, even if culturally you don’t identify that way.

That’s why someone can be genetically Mayan but not Hispanic… or culturally Hispanic but not genetically Indigenous (e.g., a white Cuban).

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Let me know if you want to see how this plays out in other identity cases (e.g., adopted East Asians, Afro-Latinos, etc.) — the framework gets even more tangled the deeper you go.