The Rundown: Census Suggests Ending Use of the Term ‘Negro’; No Need to Be Invited to Pinterest

August 10th, 2012 - By Tonya Garcia

Image: Hemera

-So maybe the economy is doing as poorly as we thought? It’s an emotional roller coaster! Now The Washington Post is saying there are indications that things are moving in a lasting, positive direction. New homes are being built and sold at a higher clip. Those jobs numbers improved with yesterday’s Labor Department numbers showing 361,000 fewer people filing for unemployment insurance. And U.S. exports were up. Experts question whether this will make a difference in the Presidential election.

-We talked about some of the trends in retail in this story yesterday. Today we have a story from The New York Times outlining the ways in which personalized shopping is heading to the supermarket as well. Grocers, using data collected on loyalty cards and apps, are reaching out to customers in a variety of ways with personalized coupons and offers.

-The Census Bureau has proposed an end of the use of the term Negro, leaving black and African American. The suggestion is one of a few that the Bureau has made following research it conducted during the 2010 census in which some questions, when worded differently, got better response rates. The other suggestions include a separate category for “Hispanic” and different ways of identifying Arab-Americans. Hispanics are concerned that changes will short-change the count. But other groups, including the National Urban League, are in support of the rewording.

-Couldn’t get an invite to join Pinterest? Now you don’t need one. And here’s our story with a few pointers for using Pinterest to grow your business and your personal brand.

-And in the final Olympics update of this year’s Games, Usain Bolt won gold in the 200-meter race, becoming the first to ever defend both the 100-meter and 200-meter titles in back-to-back Games. For many, the win earns him the title of “best sprinter in history.” He’s also competing in the 4X100 relay competition. Separately, Bolt took issues with comments US Olympian Carl Lewis has made, suggesting that Jamaica’s drug testing program needs to be strengthened.

Ashton Eaton became “the best athlete in the world” with his gold-medal win in the decathalon. Another American Trey Hardee took silver, the first time the U.S. took the top two spots since 1956.

And the U.S. women’s soccer team took gold for the third straight time, beating Japan. The game was a rematch of the 2011 World Cup in which Japan was the victor.

Tags:

, , , , , , , , , , , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

  • rita

    I think it makes sense for Arab-Americans to have a separate way of identifying themselves. While some Arabs may be “Caucasian” in some outmoded psuedo-science sense of the word, “white” is a social construct and Arabs are not a part of that. Besides, a lot of Middle Eastern people are pretty clearly non-white, so it’s a little awkward that they have to check that box. I guess they could call have a new category called “Middle Eastern or North African” to include Berbers, Persians, native Israelis, and other people from that part of the world who do not use the label “Arab.”

    I would also suggest that there be subcategories of “black” for each country that there’s a large immigrant group in a way similar to what they do for Asians and Latinos. I think it’s important to track the extent to which these subgroups are growing. There are more Africans than ever before and it’s important to understand where that growth is coming from and how it is spread across the country.