The 2020 Census is coming: If Blacks are not in that number, we lose out
2nd March 2020 · 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 1, 2020, is Census Day. The census is a short questionnaire that asks about who you are and where you live. The Census is taken every 10 years and counts the population in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
The Constitution-mandated count is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The 2020 Census data collected will be used to determine which communities get what share of federal tax dollars.
It’s common knowledge that many of us in the Black community are suspicious about the federal government’s motives in collecting our personal information for the U.S. Census. We wonder what the feds will do with our data. Will it be used to track us down, spy on us, incarcerate us, send bill collectors, send political messages and targeted advertising we don’t want, or for racial profiling?
Thoughts and feelings about government intrusion into our personal lives can cause many, particularly Black people, to think twice before jotting down answers to Census questions.
More than 40 million blacks live in the United States and the Black immigrant population has increased by 71 percent since 1980. The decline in the white population indicates they will those considered to be minorities today will be the ones driving the distribution of U.S. tax dollars, including what programs are funded, who goes to Washington, who occupies state legislatures, and who dispenses justice.
What goes around is finally coming around but…
If people of color don’t participate in the Census in record numbers, their communities will continue to be redlined out of Congressional representation and we will continue to lose our fair share of tax dollars.
So, how does not answering the Census impact us?
The census provides critical data that lawmakers, business owners, teachers, and many others use to provide daily services, products, and support for you and your community. For example:
More than $675 billion was distributed to 132 programs in 2015; including funding for medical assistance, SNAP benefits, Medicare Part B, highway planning and construction, federal Pell Grants, school lunch program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, Title I Grants, special education grants, Head Start, WIC, foster care, child care, low-income home energy assistance, community development block grants, social services block grants, substance abuse, career tech education, rural rental assistance, rural education, wildlife restoration, adult education, maternal and child care programs, Indian housing, agricultural grants, firefighter grants, justice assistance grants, battered women shelters, family violence prevention, emergency food assistance, water pollution control support, coastal zone management, homelessness grants, promotion of the arts, juvenile delinquency prevention, HCBU funding, farmers market nutrition programs, hunter education and safety program, voting access for people with disabilities, job access, independent living grants, special milk program for children, and many more.
Of equal importance, the 2020 Census will determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives and its data is used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.
It’s no secret that Louisiana’s Congressional districts are gerrymandered to the hilt in favor of white Republicans. Blacks are underrepresented in Congress and in Louisiana’s State Legislature.
As a result of the purposeful partisan and racial gerrymandering done by the majority- Republican state legislature, the Louisiana U.S. House delegation includes five Republican white men, and one Democrat, a Black man. We have two U.S. Senators; both are white Republicans.
If we are underrepresented in the Census count, we could lose congressional seats and electoral votes. After the 2010 Census, Louisiana lost one seat due to the loss of citizens who left the state after Hurricane Katrina and did not return. Louisiana also lost one of its nine electoral votes because of the results of the 2010 U.S. Census.
At last count at least 75,000 of the 100,000 people we lost, either moved back or new residents moved to the city of New Orleans. However, absent a correct Census count, the city and state can lose life-sustaining programs, congressional seats, and electoral votes.
The paranoid and suspicious of those who fear answering the Census is unfounded. Not answering the Census is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Federal law does not allow the Census Bureau to share your private information with anyone. Your answers can only be used to produce general statistics and data that is used for the distribution of funds, social studies, and state, regional and local programs.
Another reason we should answer the Census is for genealogy purposes. Your family’s ancestry can be traced through Census data. This year marks the 24th Census of the United States. The first Census was taken in 1790.
Even if you’re independently wealthy, you’re not immune from the unintended consequences of a Census undercount. An undercount of people in your community may result in a lack of funding for needed services like police, fire, infrastructure improvements, education, small business investments, medical, and homelessness assistance, among others.
In mid-March, homes across the country will begin receiving invitations to complete the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives, you can respond for your home in one of three ways: online, by phone, or by mail. In December, the Census Bureau will deliver apportionment counts to the president and Congress as required by law.
Looking at Louisiana’s track record, it’s clear that our state legislature’s Republican majority will continue to draw racially discriminatory district lines, unless we stand up and be counted and demand a fairer congressional map.
Given what’s at stake, it’s time to put on your big boy pants and big girl panties. Man-up, woman-up and stand up and be counted. Do your constitutional duty. Get off the sidelines and participate. Answer the Census, so that we can all have a decent quality of life.
The Census Bureau is hiring for temporary part-time positions for the Census 2020 Count. Interested citizens can earn extra income and help their communities at the same time. Visit https://2020census.gov/en/jobs.html to apply and http://2020census.gov to answer the Census online.
This article originally published in the March 2, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
