The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday on universalizing a controversial census question historically asked only of some population groups before being dropped decades ago: whether the respondent is a citizen.

The population count, required every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution, has changed with time and political concerns. The first census, in 1790, listed the names of only heads of household. By 1850, the census included all household members, but left out the enslaved.

After the Civil War, race questions became tortuous. An article in The Sun of New York in 1890, headlined “A Census Puzzle,” detailed objections to classifying people as Negro, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, white, Chinese, Japanese or Indian. That version of the question was abandoned by 1900.

Many would say mental health and competency are also hardly simple issues. From 1850 to 1880, census officials gave it a shot, asking if any household members were “deaf and dumb, blind, insane or idiotic.” The question was tweaked for 1890 and then dropped.

That’s it for this briefing. Tuesday’s briefing incorrectly identified some of the foreign victims of the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. Three were the children of a Danish, not Dutch, billionaire. — Alisha

Thank you

To Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Kenneth R. Rosen for the break from the news. Kayne Rogers, an editor whose great-great-grandmother was “deaf and dumb” in several censuses, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the problems at Boeing.

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• The New York Times’s annual diversity report shows that women now make up 51 percent of our staff, and people of color represent 30 percent; both have increased in recent years.