In Hawaii, the reason for the drop was a change in the census form itself. In the 1990 census, residents had to choose a single race. But in 2000, they could choose a combination of races. Hawaii had the highest proportion of multiracial people in the nation - 21.4 percent, many of them a mix of Asian and Hawaiian, white and Asian, and white and Hawaiian. California has 4.7 percent of its population choosing two or more races, compared with 2.4 percent nationwide.
People are proud of that.
Some Hispanics who selected white in 1990 may have bypassed that option in 2000. Jorge del Pinal, the Census Bureau's chief of special population statistics, visited El Paso in 1990. The Census Bureau never issued such advice. Hispanics can report whatever race they choose.