It only began counting all people by ethnic ancestry since the 1980 census , though .
The U.S. census counted certain Asian ethnic groups separately since 1870 , initially counting only Chinese and Japanese , but having other categories as well since 1910 .
U.S. only began counting all people by ethnic ancestry since the 1980 census , though .
The U.S. census counted certain Asian ethnic groups separately since 1870 , initially counting only Chinese and Japanese , but having other categories as well since 1910 .