In Other News · United States

Source: Axios

A fight over whether the 2030 Census should stop asking about race and ethnicity has drawn more than 100,000 public comments, according to advocates tracking the federal docket.Why it matters: The change could weaken the nation's most complete snapshot of race — data used in civil rights enforcement and redistricting — just as America grows more multiracial.Catch up quick: The Census Bureau proposed in September to stop asking Americans about their race and ethnicity on the once-a-decade census.The Census Bureau says a shorter form could encourage more people to respond, while greater use of existing government records would reduce the need to ask certain questions.The proposal wouldn't end federal race data: Census could obtain demographic data from government records and other sources and ask about race and ethnicity on the American Community Survey (ACS) and other surveys.But civil rights advocates say that would give the federal government more power to determine people's race and ethnicity, rather than the respondents, leading to inaccurate data.State of play: Census extended the comment deadline from Oct. 13 to Nov. 2.An outside analysis of 52,424 published comments through Oct. 16 found 86% opposed the overall proposal, while 88% addressed removing race and ethnicity questions. This...