Census counting inaccuracy has far-reaching impacts on communities of color
25th April 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
The chronic undercounting of people of color in the decennial census of the U.S. population continued into the latest count in 2020, and the negative ramifications of the miscount might continue to be felt in numerous aspects of society – including the ongoing erosion of voting rights.
Like the Census, the nation undergoes a redistricting of its electoral districts every 10 years, the process of redrawing the electoral boundaries tied directly to the massive, demographically driven population counting of the Census.
According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2020 survey undercounted the Black population by 3.3 percent. The shortfall skewed even higher for Latinos, at 4.99 percent, and Native Americans at 5.64 percent. Meanwhile, people identifying as white were over-counted by 1.64 percent.
The consequences of such demographic inaccuracy could eventually include the under-allotment of social welfare funding and federal aid for people of color, millions of whom continue to struggle economically, and the undercounting could impact where new facilities like hospitals and schools are placed in the future.
However, civil rights advocates locally and nationally warn that by missing so many people in the population count, the federal government might have set in motion the type of electoral gerrymandering and restrictive voting laws that have been underway for decades, and especially in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
Such partisan, anti-voting tactics are already being seen in the electoral redistricting currently underway in every state, including Louisiana, where the Republican-dominated state Legislature recently overrode Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of the state’s redrawn election map. While many GOP-led state legislatures across the country have for decades actively worked to disenfranchise people – including millions of poor and/or minority voters who often vote against the Republican Party – through gerrymandering, such shady manipulations could kick into high gear, as they have in Louisiana.
Perhaps the highest-profile example of one party rigging the electoral districts is how, despite the fact that Louisiana is one-third Black, only one of the state’s six congressional districts, have a majority of minority voters. The result is a congressional delegation in Washington that is five-sixths white, a starkly disproportionate figure when compared to the state’s population.
“The undercount of minority communities in the 2020 census could impact the very validity of our representative democracy,” U.S. Rep Troy Carter, D-Louisiana, told The Louisiana Weekly. “If we have incorrect, too-low numbers, this may lead to fewer or inaccurate districts at all levels of government.
“My concern is that this gives some people and communities less, or more, of a voice than others,” added Carter, Louisiana’s only Black Congressperson. “That’s un-American. Put simply, poor representation based on inaccurate data risks further eroding voting rights for minority Americans.”
Urban League of Louisiana President and CEO Judy Reese Morse agreed with Carter.
“The impact of an undercount translates directly to the ability of communities of color to have equitable representation in elected office,” she said. “The Census count is used to create district maps to account for population and demographic shifts. If communities of color are undercounted, then that translates to communities of color also being ignored in that process.”
Reese Morse added the 2020 Census has shown that Louisiana is one-third Black, and has a growing Latino population, facts that might be ignored by those in power.
“As we’ve seen during this current redistricting process, maps can be created and passed that do not even align with the Census count,” she said. “So, if we are to factor in the undercount – then the misalignment becomes that much greater.”
Reese Morse noted that 2020 isn’t the first time people of color have been undercounted, both in Louisiana and nationwide. She said the Urban League of Louisiana, along with several partnering organizations, worked hard to make sure the 2020 Census accurately counted communities of color, but the process was hampered by hurricanes and other natural elements, as well as the COVID pandemic. These hurdles for an accurate count can end up striking at the very heart of American democracy.
“The Census count is foundational to the ability of communities of color to be fairly represented,” she said, “and an undercount allows for the voting power of people of color to be diminished.”
Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that “undercounts have been a recurring theme for many populations of color.” He pointed to several reasons for the inaccuracy, such as a historical distrust of the federal government that can make people of color hesitant to be enumerated or to respond to a Census taker’s inquiries. Such reluctant populations can include recent immigrants to the U.S. who might fear deportation, such as many Latino and Asian residents; African-American communities that have repeated negative experiences with law enforcement; and Native Americans whose culture has been all but eradicated by genocidal government policies.
Hewitt said other reasons for the undercounting of populations of color include a lack of access to the Internet, through which two-thirds of all Census surveys were submitted in 2020; language and English literacy barriers; non-traditional mailing addresses, such as rural routes and P.O. boxes; and the undercounting of all households that rent their residences, a demographic with disproportionately higher percentages of people of color; and increased percentages of homelessness and housing insecurity.
“Because of these, and other barriers, many populations of color have lower self-response rates,” Hewitt said.
Because electoral redistricting uses Census counts to ensure “one person, one vote” requirements, counting inaccuracy could lead to “underrepresentation at all levels of government.” And beyond that, he said, “the symbolic message an undercount sends to the affected community of color that they simply don’t count as much as non-Hispanic whites, who tend to be over-counted in every decennial Census.”
The Urban League’s Reese Morse summed up the potential consequences for Census undercounts on people of color.
“When we are not counted, we are not heard and we are not considered in decision making,” she said. “When our communities are undercounted, our voting power is also undercounted, or even ignored and discounted.”
This article originally published in the April 25, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
