Dear Equity Atlas Users,

Since we launched the Atlas in October 2014, we have wanted to include data that better describes the incredible diversity within broad racial/ethnic groups and challenges the “model minority” myth that impedes action and progress toward racial equity and inclusive growth.
 
We are excited to be taking a first step toward that goal by adding two new breakdowns to our “detailed race/ethnicity” indicator. Now, when you go to that indicator, you can select “by ancestry” and see more detailed breakdowns of the Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Latino, Native American, and White populations (e.g., Filipino, Jamaican, Puerto Rican). You can also select “by nativity and ancestry” to get a breakdown of the share of each group who are immigrants versus U.S.-born.
 
To provide some more detailed data for smaller areas, we also created broader geographic categories (e.g., South Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian, Pacific Islander) that combine a number of ancestries. For a large, diverse region like Los Angeles (see screenshot below), you will get data for many ancestry categories, while for a smaller, less diverse region like Charleston, you will see fewer of the detailed ancestry categories.
 
We hope you enjoy digging in to the data! Here is a blog post highlighting some takeaways from the new data. In a few weeks (on May 23), we will be adding these more detailed racial/ethnic breakdowns to several of our economic opportunity indicators, including:

• Unemployment
• Wages: Median
• Wages: $15/Hour
• Disconnected Youth
• Educational Levels
• Homeownership

 

Thank you!
 
The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)