Janet Levy – Americans have been living with the idiosyncrasies of arbitrary racial classifications for almost five decades. These are now deeply entrenched and serve to drive political agendas while understandably fomenting divisiveness and resentment. That is the subject of David E. Bernstein’s impeccably researched book Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America.

In his review of the history of American racial classification, Bernstein, a professor of law at George Mason University, brings clarity to the contentious discrimination debate which began in earnest with the Statistical Directive 15 of the Office of Management and Budget of 1977, creating five inconsistent and haphazard racial categories:  American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Black; Hispanic; and White. Continue reading →