The fact that the word "Negro" is on the 2010 Census forms has, as we reported yesterday, been generating concern among many African-Americans who are offended by it.

We said we had asked the Census Bureau for some historical background on when the word has been used in the past, and as we noted earlier this morning in an update to the original post, the answer is that it's been on the form since at least 1950. Here's what the question on the "long" form looked like in 2000:

Census.gov
Census.gov

From the 2000 questionaire.

As you can see, the 2010 version isn't much different:

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php
Enlarge Census.gov

From the 2010 questionaire.

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php
Census.gov

From the 2010 questionaire.

Our question (which closes Saturday afternoon) still remains, though:

The government is studying whether the word should be removed from future forms.