Urgent phase of Census begins
9th March 2020 · 0 Comments
By Marc H. Morial
President/CEO, National Urban League
Beginning on March 12, households across America will begin receiving official Census Bureau mail with detailed information on how to respond to the 2020 Census online, by phone, or by mail.
This marks the first phase in the most urgent imperative of the decade. More than just a head count, the decennial census determines how legislative districts are drawn, how voting power is distributed among communities, and how $675 billion in federal dollars will be allocated and invested.
If Black people are undercounted by 1.7 million, as many forecasts predict, it will cost states $3.4 billion a year.
As soon as households receive this invitation in the mail, they can respond online, by phone, or by mail. This is the first time in history Americans can respond to the Census online. The information arriving in mailboxes next week will list a website listed and a Census ID, which can be used starting March 12.
All responses, whether given online, by mail or in person, are confidential under federal law.
To prepare for the launch of Census 2020, National Urban League has gathered key civil rights leaders and mayors from across the nation for National Tele-Town Hall on Tuesday, March 10, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss how to make sure our communities are fairly counted. Martin Luther King III, co-chair of New York State’s Complete Count Committee, is the keynote speaker. We’ll be joined by the mayors of Dallas, New Orleans, Buffalo and other cities.
I can’t overstate how important it is for Black Americans to participate in the Census. This will be the 24th Census undertaken in the history of the nation, and for the first eight, most African Americans counted as only three-fifths of a person.
Historically, African Americans have been undercounted. In 1970, my predecessor Whitney M. Young testified to Congress that there had been a 15 percent undercount of Black families, though official Census statistics place the figure near eight percent.
“The extent to which the 1960 undercount has shortchanged inner-city residents of the political representation and economic assistance to which they are entitled is incalculable,” Young testified. “Two million Blacks missed in 1960 could symbolize the loss of five congressmen and scores of state legislators to the Black community.”
In response to the failures of the Census to accurately count African Americans, Young launched the first Make Black Count campaign with a coalition of other civil rights organizations. To prevent another historic undercount, we have revived this historic campaign.
April 1 is Census Day. Every household in America will have received an invitation to participate by this date. Wherever you’re living on April 1, is what you will report as your address. Whoever is living at that dwelling on that date – every single person, whether related or not – should be counted as a member of that household.
During April, census-takers will begin visiting places where large groups of people live, such as college campuses and senior citizen centers.
Throughout the summer, census-takers will visit homes who have not responded online or by mail.
The Census Bureau will deliver the count to Congress in December.
The next few months are critical if we want our communities fairly represented. Join the Tele-Town Hall to find out how you can help.
This article originally published in the March 9, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
