Contact: Decennial Media Relations Rachel Cassidy/Hispanic
Origin Census 2000 results released by the Census Bureau today
show a racially diverse America. However, relatively few --
about 2.4 percent nationally -- took advantage of a first-ever
option for respondents to identify themselves as belonging to
more than one race. The first of a series of Census 2000 briefs,
titled Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, showed the
following for the 274.6 million people who reported only one
race: The Census Bureau also reported that Hispanics, who may be
of any race, totaled 35.3 million, or about 13 percent of the
total population. This information was obtained from a separate
question on Hispanic or Latino origin. Of the 6.8 million people
who reported more than one race, 93 percent reported two races.
The most common combinations were: Of all respondents who
reported more than one race, about 7 percent indicated three or
more races. Those who reported only one race are described as
"alone," those who selected one