South Carolina’s Minority Population
Racial and Ethnic Classifications Background
United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Standards for data on race and ethnicity
These are the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Development of these data standards stemmed in large measure from new responsibilities to enforce civil rights laws. Data were needed to monitor equal access in housing, education, employment, and other areas, for populations that historically had experienced discrimination and differential treatment because of their race or ethnicity. The categories represent a social-political construct designed for collecting data on the race and ethnicity of broad population groups in this country, and are not anthropologically or scientifically based.
American Indians and Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachments. There is one Federally recognized tribe in South Carolina and several state recognized tribes. For more information click here.
Asian:A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.
Black or African American: A people having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa.
Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central America or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race
Non-Hispanic or Latino: Person is not of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
OMB the – 2009 by the Health Research and Educational Trust
Population Growth
The entire population of South Carolina has increased by 15.3% since 2000. The majority of this growth has been in the racial/ethnic minority population groups. Roughly 1.6 million South Carolinians, or nearly 35% of the state's population, belong to racial and ethnic minority groups. Even though African Americans make up the majority of the minority population (27.9), the Hispanic/Latino population has increased significantly by 148% since the 2000 census. Individuals of Hispanic/Latino origin now make up 5.1% of the state’s minority population. Each racial and ethnic minority group is internally diverse--within each major group you can find subgroups with different languages, cultures or backgrounds. Most Hispanic/Latinos residing in South Carolina are from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America and Colombia.
