The racial identity of South Asians has long been a subject of controversy in
the United States. Their inchoate racial status translates into a variety of racial
descriptors being chosen by and for South Asians. This paper uses 1990 census data to
examine the socio-economic and demographic correlates of the racial self-identi®cation
choices made by household heads of Asian Indian origin, both foreign- and US-born. The
results of multinomial logit analysis show that respondents who are more acculturated
to the United States are more likely to describe themselves as `Black’ or `White’ than are
those with less familiarity with American society. However, higher socio-economic levels
are associated with a greater likelihood of self-identi®cation as South Asian on the census
race question. Finally, comparison with a sample of Asian Indian children reveals the
latter’s greater tendency to be identi®ed with a race other than South Asian, due both
to their more extensive mixed ancestry and their larger share of US-born respondents