By Kai Curry
For Northwest Asian Weekly
These days, many of us won’t open the door for a highly anticipated mail order of the latest ear buds, let alone a government official. As news of the impeding rollout of the 2020 U.S. Census swept the last year, fear of being counted for the wrong reasons was at the top of mind for every day citizens and community organizers. Now it’s almost here, and it’s not quite what we were told. There are good reasons to go ahead and open the door when the Census taker knocks.
The most concerning issue for many citizens, when talk of the 2020 U.S. Census began last year, was that the powers-that-be in Washington D.C. had threatened to include a question requiring verification of citizenship.
With the crackdown against immigrants fresh in everyone’s mind, this sounded like a good way to track people the government doesn’t want here versus a benign way to count how many people are here. Turns out, there was no historical guidance, or requirement, for including a citizenship question on the U.S. Census–and such a question was not included. There is no citizenship question on the Census. Those fears are now unwarranted.
Even though the citizenship question has been retracted, there are still those who worry, particularly in minority communities, that the information gathered from the U.S. Census will be used for the wrong reasons. Those wrong reasons are nebulous, whereas the right reasons are very obvious.
The count that is taken from the Census is used to allocate government funding. If we do not answer the call of the Census, then those in charge of the money will not know how many of us are here, and as a result, will not grant funds to community programs. According to the Seattle Census 2020 inter-departmental team, “a significant percentage of historically undercounted communities are at risk of being undercounted again in 2020.” This means that if people don’t answer, minorities will be hit the hardest, and our community groups will not be able to afford to provide the outreach and care at which they excel. Programs such as SNAP, Head Start, and Medicare, would be at risk of not receiving adequate monies.
In other words, if the Census takers are unable to find out how many people really live here, then the correct statistics won’t be used to make decisions moving forward. The U.S. Census takes place every 10 years, and determines the numbers according to which funding will be handed out for the next ten years – until the next Census. Historically, Washington has a good response rate. And, here in Seattle, we have one of the most diverse populations in the nation. Making sure the Census records our numbers correctly affects not only national, , and local funding, but it also makes a difference when we vote. Still burned by the last election? The primary for the next one is upon us now. Worried that our districts are not zoned fairly? Per the Seattle Census 2020 inter-departmental team, the results of the Census are also used to “redraw boundaries of congressional and local legislative districts” – otherwise known as “re-districting.” The Census is how our s end up Red or Blue because representation is based on population.
Everyone is required by law to fill out the Census. In order to facilitate the goal of 100% participation, this year, the Census will be available to us in three different formats: by mail, online, and in person. In response to an increasingly digital world, and perhaps people’s natural disinclination to answer the door, this year will be the first year that the Census can be taken online. Like every other government department since the current administration came on board, the Census Bureau is low on funds and therefore, low on manpower, which is another reason that they have gone predominantly digital this time around.
April 1, 2020 is officially “Census Day.” Those who have not filled out the Census by mail or online by early April will hear the Census takers come knocking in person. With some fears still simmering in people’s attitudes towards the Census, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep in mind that those collecting the Census in person are ordinary citizens like the rest of us, most of them temporary workers in need of extra cash – just like the rest of us.
Some of us may have already encountered these helpful citizens as they were sent out in January to double check on addresses that might have changed or been added since the last Census in 2010. You will be able to verify that the person who comes to your door is legitimate through several indicators: they will be wearing a badge with a photo ID and their name; they will be carrying a bag with a large Census Bureau logo; they will have a Census Bureau phone and laptop, both with Census watermarks. If you are still not convinced, you can check the person’s validity at the “About Us” – “Staff Search” portion of the U.S. Census website at www.census.gov.
So, what will be asked on U.S. Census 2020? When you receive your questionnaire in the mail, or when you go online at the URL which is yet to be divulged, you will not find a citizenship question. What will you find are questions about how many people live in your own, whether your rent or own your home, and the age, sex, and race of those in your household. The Census will also ask the relationship connections of those in the home.
What the Census will not ask you, along with the non-existent citizenship question, is any personal identifiable information, such as your social security number, your political affiliation, or any information about your bank accounts. Nor will the Census or the Census takers ask you for money. That is prohibited.
Ultimately, everyone has to act with their own conscience and sense of well-being when it comes to the Census. It is difficult to dispel fears caused by ongoing anti-immigration sentiment, yet the Census and its representatives are doing their best to reassure citizens of their privacy, and of the importance to those same concerned communities of completing an accurate count in 2020. The best weapon against uncertainty is information, so if doubts remain, equip yourself by browsing the websites of our local activist organizations, or those of the government. Then hopefully, when the Census comes knocking, you won’t mind answering, even if it’s not your new ear buds.
To learn more about the 2020 U.S. Census, go to www.census.gov. Locally, you can also go to www.Seattlecensus.org or www.wecountKingcounty.org, among others.
Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
What is a myth is that answering the US Census is without dangerous social implications.
You can count me,…… out!
Question; can we trust our government ? THAT IS THE QUESTION!,…and the true answer is for anyone who has read history and paid any attention to the news for even the last decade is not only no,..BUT HELL NO!
The US census of 1940 was used to illegally and unconstitutionally incarcerate tens of thousands of Asian Americans, most of whom lost their property and businesses and they were placed for four years in in concentration camps, human in comparison to NAZI concentration camps,..but concentration camps nevertheless,…as far as I am concern our government forever lost the right to demand anything but a volunteered answer to any future census.
Have things changed, can we trust our government now, I mean that was a long time ago right? Two names should tell you that it absolutely has not,..and those names are SNOWDEN and CLAPPER.
The United States Government has a very long way to go earn trust again.
Our Government still has a lot of work to do to regain my trust and it would go a long way to build trust to request but not demand citizens answer the damn thing!