Hey America, I’m Here!

by Anna M Erickson

 “Most people don’t know this about me, but I’ve probably watched every YouTube video by a mixed girl, trying to find community in my unique ethnic composition being black, Vietnamese, and Native American.”

I wrote that line down for the first time in 2019. I read it over and over, preparing for a speech I was set to give that spring, as if I didn’t already know. 

The truth is being mixed in America has an extensive history, and in the media it has been tainted with the rhetoric of rape, prostitution, oddity, etc., but that’s an inexhaustible topic I could write books on, and I’m leaving that to be unpacked a different time. 

Today, there is a different topic on the table -- the Census -- more pressing because it has a deadline: August 14, 2020. 

The reason why I bring up being mixed is because I recently learned of a monumental change that occurred in the previous 2010 Census. For the first time in its 230 year history, the United States Census Bureau enabled Americans to check off multiple boxes in the “race” category. Meaning, for the first time mixed people became seen in the eyes of the federal government. 

I was ecstatic -- like, finally… it’s 2010. 

This change has huge political and economic implications as the U.S. government uses census data to determine congressional representation, inform apportionment, allocate billions in funding, advise federal agencies, determine healthcare, establish schools, the list could go on. The point is: this data is critically important to American lives for the next 10 years. 

But I was in for a rude awakening…  

The change, which enabled mixed people to be counted, was the result of an initiative by white conservatives looking to dilute the black population. Meaning, it would be advantageous to this interest group if there were fewer black people counted in the eyes of the U.S. government -- because then blacks would get less representation and funding. 

In other words, this made it so if I fill out my Census form as a mixed woman, I would go into the “mixed category” and no longer be counted as “black” - so no numerical value would be added to the black population. 

America, taglined as the melting pot, is still systemically looking to be more white. From the first Census taken in 1790, which adhered to the three-fifths compromise, to today, blacks in America are still striving for political equality.  

Equally as provoking is how “kept in the dark” the general public is to these truths. For example, it is easy to look at the fact that mixed people are being represented and believe that major changes are being taken in the right direction. However, in this situation, it couldn't be more than the opposite. There is corruption within the entity itself. 

Due to Census data being used so prevalently in federal agencies, it is important to study the political implications of this. The Census Bureau behaves on the strict rule to “count everyone once, and only once, and with no location errors.” This year’s Census Day is April 1st meaning whoever you are and wherever you are on that date is what should be recorded (a baby born on April 2nd is not to be counted). 

It is easy to understand the importance of Census Day when considering the role colleges play in the redistricting count. As a college student, on April 1st you will, most likely, be residing at your institution and therefore are to be counted there. Also, since you spend most of the year residing there, it makes sense to be counted accordingly. (*This year is different due to CO-VID19, but let’s pretend there is no global pandemic happening.) 

Because of the substantial student body count your intuition brings to an area, you being there helps that area get more representation, as a larger population equals more seats in the House of Representatives. (more seats in the house = more political power). 

The double-edged sword to this “April 1st” reality is that another group is being counted in a very similar way, and they reside in prisons. Prison inmates get counted at the location of their prison-hosting area. In effect, the placement of a prison will give that area more representation. 

This can become extremely problematic when strategic prison placement is implemented for political gain. 

Say hypothetically Minnesota is looking to become an increasingly Republican state by creating another Republican district through reapportionment and gerrymandering. Constructing a prison in a given area could make this more likely to happen, as the increase in population will potentially create the need to re-district. And when you think about that, coupled with the fact that felons are unable to vote in the majority of states, it is basically a win-win for Minnesota’s Republicans. And since the Census is taken every 10 years, there is real-time to plan and implement this.

The scheme for political gain is no new concept to states. After the 2010 census, New York and Maryland made the change to count state prisoners as residents of their home communities, rather than residents of the places where they are incarcerated, citing the corruption in doing so. 

Now, why am I telling you all of this? Because I want you to understand how critically important it is to fill out the Census, especially for the black population which is currently being undercounted. 

Undercounting is an inherent problem of statistics. You can never get 100% in statistics; similarly, the Census Bureau can never be sure it has counted 100% of the population. This is a reality that I can make peace with. But what cannot be forgiven is, of the undercounted population, it is an predominantly blacks who are being undercounted. When someone is not counted, representation and funding which they have the rights to are withheld.

What makes this reality even more haunting is considering this: all U.S. residents have a constitutional obligation to fill out the Census form. Yet, despite citizen’s requirement by law to fill out the Census, it is loosely enforced -- which begs the question that maybe the federal government, notorious for its systemic racism, is “ok” with minorities being undercounted. 

Why is the Census not being enforced? Who is this benefiting? Why is it that black people are being hastily rounded up on marijuana charges as if it the be-all-end-all… but then it comes to enforcing the Census, which undercounts blacks primarily, the law to fill out the Census, which arguably should be much more important to our country than marijuana laws, is minimally enforced? 

Well… there's even more misconduct…. 

The skewing of data can happen even within the procedure of gathering it. For example, by sending a white person to black neighborhoods it is statistically proven fewer blacks will respond vs. sending a black person to black neighborhoods. This is a way in which the federal agency, predominantly run by whites, or bureaucrats sent to enforce the Census can undercount blacks and do so “on accented.” They can say “we tried - we even then knocked on their door,” when in reality the whole motive was not to count them.

Before concluding, I would like to make a point on privacy. 

Those who are opposed to filling out the Census often cite their grievances on the grounds of privacy concerts. Firstly, the biggest worry comes from undocumented immigrants. And to answer is this: there is no citizenship question on the Census -- if you are a person in America, whether documented or not, you still can be counted and get representation. 

Second, this fear needs to stop because by not filling out the Census you are not getting represented and you are just hurting yourself. Here is the harsh reality: the federal government already has enough information to fill out the Census for 97% of Americans. Additionally, when speaking with a Columbia University faculty member, who studies elections, he noted that on his personal laptop he has 145,000 pieces of information on each voter in America -- just because it is out there. Your information IS out there. So if you think you are saving yourself by not filling out the Census, that is not true. 

You will be comforted to know, however, that your privacy is considered and aimed to be protected. The Census Bureau does shuffle data at the local level to “protect your privacy.” Meaning, that if you are a white man and your neighbor is an Indian woman - they might change so you are a white woman and your neighbor is an Indian man. This does have implications on a local level, in terms of privacy protection, but in the grand scheme of the entire U.S. population makes no difference to its accuracy of the country’s data. 

An interesting point about this -- the one piece of data the Census Bureau can never change is someone's race, emphasizing how important it is. So, when Obama filled out the 2010 Census as only black, no one could change that. And why did Obama do that despite being mixed? That’s just something to think about in relation to all this. 

Filling out the Census is the most concrete and mathematical way you can make a difference within the United States for the next 10 years. Be counted. Be represented. We can no longer live in a country where we ask “who counts?”