"The New Race Question is a wide-ranging examination of what we know about racial enumeration, the likely effects of the census change, and possible policy implications for the future. Contributor Reynolds Farley reviews the way in which the census has traditionally measured race and shows that although the numbers of people choosing more than one race are not high at the national level, they can make a real difference in the population totals at the county level.

The book then takes up the debate over how the change in measurement will affect national policy in arenas that rely on race counts, especially in civil rights law, but also in health, education, and income reporting. A technical appendix provides a useful manual for bridging old census data to new.".

"The book concludes with a discussion of the politics of racial enumeration. Hugh Davis Graham examines recent history to ask why some groups were determined to be worthy of special government protections and programs, while others were not. Posing the volume's ultimate question, Jennifer Hochschild asks whether the official recognition of multiracials marks the beginning of the end of federal use of race data, and whether that is a good or bad thing for society?"--BOOK JACKET.