You Need To Care About The Census, Now More Than Ever

By Jennifer Edwards


It’s impossible to overstate how essential voting in 2020 is, especially if we desire to be able to see any progress on essential issues like gun control, police reform, climate change, or the cost of college. Nevertheless there’s something else in 2020 that’s just as essential to our ability to create change happen in the long run, and we’ve got to create ensure each person in our communities participates.


It’s the 2020 census, and, among other things, it will decide how much your vote actually matters for the next decade.


Every 10 years the government has to count each person in the nation, no matter their age, immigration status, gender identity, housing status, or any other personalized identity as piece of the census. Everyone has to answer a couple of questions, which take up much less than a page, and the Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your statistics and keep it confidential, so the intelligence cannot be shared with another government organization or used against you in any way. Even in case you are already registered to vote, have a driver’s license, or paid your taxes, you must participate as the only way to get counted in the 2020 census is to fill out the census form online, by phone, or on the paper that’s mailed to your residence. And but we are in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s still key to have your voice heard.


The state and federal governments use the census to divide up seats in Congress and votes in the Electoral College, which is used to determine the presidency. So, participation in the census directly impacts the power of your vote and more. And from school lunch programs to funding for hospital beds and roads, an accurate census count impacts how much cash and resources our neighborhoods receive.


Think of the census as segment of your responsibility to your community — your companions in that preference sort chat, your local bodega owner, the kids in daycare down the block, your loved ones in the hospital, your parents — and it’s piece of your responsibility to yourself. It’s key that each person fill out the census so the community can get government funding for each person who lives in it. And so they require you to fill out the census so that their votes, and yours, for president and Congress really count.


And in case you don’t — if the Census Bureau misses some people, or not each person fills out their forms — it could result in a undercount, which impacts everything from the collection of members in the Residence of Representatives to funding for public transit. Census intelligence plugs into several of the formulas that decide which communities get cash from the government. Public transit systems like buses and subways are supported in part by about $13 billion in annual grants from the federal government, and census statistics plays a big part in deciding who gets those grants and why big they are. If there’s a undercount, that’s fewer tax dollars to your community — and furthermore to worse transit options, there’s also much less cash for roads and bridges.


That’s how a undercount can rob your populace of political power and its fair share of tax cash. And who typically gets undercounted? The same people who can often disregarded in our society: the young, the poor, and people of color.


More than 800,000 Black people weren’t counted in the 2010 census. About 6.3 percent of young Black children were failed to notice in the 2010 census, twice the rate of young non-Latinx white children. Young people living on their own for the initial time are also vulnerable to getting missed.


That’s no accident. The people in power know the stakes of the census. They attempted to add the citizenship questions to scare undocumented people and their families — and doubled down on it, even soon after it was ruled unconstitutional. If they don’t advertise the census to us well enough, we don’t know it’s happening. They can make the census sound complex, like something that doesn’t directly impact our lives and families so we don’t pay attention to it. They’d rather disregard us, shut out our voices, and pretend that some of us just don’t exist.


you could start to fill out your 2020 census form online right now and get involved in the task to support your community in filling theirs out, too.  (The NAACP has also established this week as Black Census Week in a task to support Black Residents of the United States and their communities in filling out their forms.) Because counting yourself in supports the me, assists the you, and cooperates with the your neighborhood. It’s easy and quick to do. And standing up and saying, “We exist!” Is the opening step in getting our voices heard and necessitates met.


Jennifer Edwards is the Senior Director of Digital Engagement and Democracy at Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice corporation. Her focus is on finding innovative ways to activate Black communities online and increase voter participation on issues affecting Black people. Visit www.Ourcount.Org.