On March 28, the Biden Administration announced revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15). In a Federal Register notice, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that �revised SPD 15 replaces and supersedes OMB’s 1997 Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.�
In a related blog post released by the White House, Dr. Karin Orvis, Chief Statistician of the United States, credited the work of the Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards. In June 2022, this working group, which was comprised of Federal government career staff representing 35 agencies, was tasked with developing recommendations to improve the quality and usefulness of Federal race and ethnicity data. To solicit public input, the working group hosted numerous public listening sessions and virtual town halls and received and analyzed over 20,000 comments from organizations and individuals. The public�s feedback was reflected in a final report to OMB in which the working group made recommendations for updating and improving SPD 15, including:
- Using one combined question for race and ethnicity and encouraging respondents to select as many options as apply to how they identify.
- Adding Middle Eastern or North African as a new minimum category. As a result, the new set of minimum race and/or ethnicity categories are:
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian
- Black or African American
- Hispanic or Latino
- Middle Eastern or North African
- Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
- White
- Requiring Federal agencies to collect �additional detail beyond the minimum required race and ethnicity categories for most situations, to ensure further disaggregation in the collection, tabulation, and presentation of data when useful and appropriate.�
The updated standards also include several additional updates to definitions and terminology, such as removing use of the terms �Negro� and �Far East� on Federal forms.
As part of the rollout, OMB announced it is establishing an Interagency Committee on Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards to conduct further research and monitor issues that arise during the implementation phase. In a press release, the Census Bureau said as it begins reviewing the updated SPD 15, it �will keep the public informed and determine a regular cadence for communications as we develop plans to implement the changes in our censuses and surveys.�
While the standards take effect March 28, 2024, Federal agencies will be required to submit a publicly available Agency Action Plan within 18 months and bring �all data collections and programs into compliance with the updated standards within five years of today�s [March 26, 2024] date.�
Numerous organizations issued statements in response to the proposed revisions and several media outlets highlighted the changes as well:
Organization Statements
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- NALEO Educational Fund
- Asian American Advancing Justice/AAJC
- Arab American Institute
- Coalition on Human Needs
Media Stories
