Mexico considering move to include black identity on census survey

NYTIMES.com reported an official survey of around 4,500 households this month asked about African descent and preferred terms as part of plans to include the question on a national housing and population survey of 6.1 million households next year, a broad snapshot of the country in between the main censuses. It has not yet been decided if the question will be on the full census in 2020.

The sample next year would allow for a rare, official estimate of the total black population in Mexico — a number that until now has been the subject of educated guesses of tens of thousands….That Mexico is even considering asking about black identity represents a leap in a country where race is rarely discussed publicly, and where bigotry and discrimination, both blatant and indirect, is commonplace. Read Article