Negotiation of African American Identities in Rural America: A Cultural Contracts Approach

Three in 10 people in this country are minorities and 6.8 million people identified themselves as multiracial when filling our the 2000 U.S. Census form (Kasindorf & Nasser, 2001). Of 281 million U. S. citizens, Kasindorf & Nasser claim that over nine million are minorities according to the U.S. Census data. Then again, there have been multiple claims that the 2000 U. S. Census is questionable because of ambiguity about how “minority ” is defined when using a “multiracial category ” census form. For the first time in the history of the United States, census-takers were allowed to mark more than one racial category when identifying their ethnic identity. About 2 % (or 6.8 million) of all U. S. citizens did just that. The effect this has had on rural populations is still unclear; it is not yet being reported in the data. Nonetheless, the U. S. Census report of 1990 estimates the total U. S. population was at 248 million people. Of the 248 million citizens, 61 million lived in rural areas: 55 % percent of U. S. rural citizens lived in the South or South Atlantic regions; 20 % lived in the Midwest; and 23 % lived in the New-England States and the Northeast including Ohio (combined