Update: View transcript here.

The concept of “race” has always been controversial, given ugly associations with slavery, the eugenics movement, and racism. Yet “race” and “racial identity” remain important fundamental aspects of daily life for many Americans and people in other racially diverse societies. In the United States, our understanding of race and how to measure race have changed over the years, reflecting changes brought by immigration, intermarriage, and changing social attitudes. And as racial intermarriage continues to increase, racial group boundaries will increasingly blur, further challenging the meaning of race and racial identity for more and more Americans. These trends have important implications for how the government and other organizations collect and use data on race that are used to help enforce equal opportunity laws and other programs.

During a PRB Discuss Online, Sharon Lee, research professor of sociology at the University of Victoria, British Columbia , answers participants’ questions about the controversial issues of race and racial identity, and how they are changing in the United States.