Research & Official Sources
This project separates advocacy claims from official federal findings. The following federal materials are central to the project.
OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 — 2024 Revision
OMB reported that the majority of public input supported adding a category or question identifying descendants of people enslaved in the United States. The terms receiving support included Foundational Black American, American Descendant of Slavery, American Freedman/Freedman, Black American, African-American, and others. OMB did not adopt disaggregation at that time and instead identified further research and stakeholder engagement as necessary.
Read the Federal Register notice
Detailed Race/Ethnicity Data
The revised SPD 15 requires more detailed race and ethnicity collection beyond the minimum reporting categories in most situations, subject to specified exemptions.
Census Bureau explanation of the updated standards
Census Race/Ethnicity Coding
The Census Bureau explains that coding assigns numeric codes to detailed race/ethnicity responses and that the code list informs how data are tabulated in the American Community Survey and decennial census.
Census Bureau code-list information
Implementation Timeline
The Census Bureau states that it is preparing to implement the updated 2024 standards in the 2027 American Community Survey and the 2030 Census.