BY DEVIKA C.MEHTA
LOS ANGELES, CA - A year after the first ethnic and community media telebriefing on the 2020 Census, the Ethnic Media Services in association with Leadership Conference Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice , National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and National Urban League came together to...
LOS ANGELES, CA - A year after the first ethnic and community media telebriefing on the 2020 Census, the Ethnic Media Services in association with Leadership Conference Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice , National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and National Urban League came together to...
discuss crucial preparations surrounding the highlighting issue.
On April 5, a team of leading experts including Vanita Gupta, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference Education Fund; Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, NALEO Educational Fund; John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, AAJC; Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League; and Terri Ann Lowenthal, former staff director, House Census and Population Subcommittee joined hands in the National Press Call to discuss the major happening, which is already off to a rocky start.
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau undertakes the herculean task of collecting the data of people living in the US in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity, which later impacts the design and implementation of policies and laws pertaining to education, housing, transportation, health, environmental protection, and other areas. The task has come upon this year with Congress soon approving the questionnaire and the budget for FY 2019, thus making the planning of census quite vital to America’s diverse communities
Observing and welcoming all, Sandy Close of EMS initiated the discussion and introduced the leading experts, who then talked about the outreach, adequate funding, possible outcomes of Census 2020 while raising additional questions on citizenship issues.
Taking the lead Gupta, while fearing the worst, said there’s still time for Congress and the Trump administration to turn things around. “Time and again we have been raising the alarm that the Census Bureau is not sufficiently resourced thus raising serious concerns. Each Census is unique. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing demographic community in this country. In the past years, Asian Americans account for one quarter of the American population growth. But unless we have an accurate census, we will not know the needs of our fast-changing demographic. We will not know the needs of all of our diverse communities.”
Her point was duly noted by Vargas who noted that the notion of race in America is changing and the U.S. Census Bureau might be left further behind if it cannot make the changes it needs to — and fast — in coming days. “Today, Americans no longer view race and ethnicity in grey scales; instead they are interested in identifying and understanding with every gnome of their ethnic and racial backgrounds. Same is with Latinos; we prefer to know better,” he said.
Another prominent community expert, Yang, diligently mentioned, “It’s groups like ‘people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and limited English proficient individuals’ who need great help. And, with inaccuracies in Census they would be the most affected. Any gap in testing and any gap in discovering deficiencies will have the greatest impact on these communities.”
Morial also agreed and debated, “Without proper methods of data collection, it will be communities of color who will suffer the consequences. So far, Trump administration has repeatedly proposed xenophobic and racist policies - and its handling of the Census appears to be no different.”
Finally, Terry Ao Minnis came into the picture and protested, “Each Census is unique and second chances to get it right are rare. The funding that has been proposed up until now for the 2020 Census is inadequate for our communities. More needs to be done.”
Taking a jab at Congress, she concluded, “This is an America where everyone counts. We need to make sure that is the case for this census. Congress must do its job to ensure the Census Bureau has what it needs to get it right.”
On April 5, a team of leading experts including Vanita Gupta, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference Education Fund; Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, NALEO Educational Fund; John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, AAJC; Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League; and Terri Ann Lowenthal, former staff director, House Census and Population Subcommittee joined hands in the National Press Call to discuss the major happening, which is already off to a rocky start.
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau undertakes the herculean task of collecting the data of people living in the US in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity, which later impacts the design and implementation of policies and laws pertaining to education, housing, transportation, health, environmental protection, and other areas. The task has come upon this year with Congress soon approving the questionnaire and the budget for FY 2019, thus making the planning of census quite vital to America’s diverse communities
Observing and welcoming all, Sandy Close of EMS initiated the discussion and introduced the leading experts, who then talked about the outreach, adequate funding, possible outcomes of Census 2020 while raising additional questions on citizenship issues.
Taking the lead Gupta, while fearing the worst, said there’s still time for Congress and the Trump administration to turn things around. “Time and again we have been raising the alarm that the Census Bureau is not sufficiently resourced thus raising serious concerns. Each Census is unique. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing demographic community in this country. In the past years, Asian Americans account for one quarter of the American population growth. But unless we have an accurate census, we will not know the needs of our fast-changing demographic. We will not know the needs of all of our diverse communities.”
Her point was duly noted by Vargas who noted that the notion of race in America is changing and the U.S. Census Bureau might be left further behind if it cannot make the changes it needs to — and fast — in coming days. “Today, Americans no longer view race and ethnicity in grey scales; instead they are interested in identifying and understanding with every gnome of their ethnic and racial backgrounds. Same is with Latinos; we prefer to know better,” he said.
Another prominent community expert, Yang, diligently mentioned, “It’s groups like ‘people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and limited English proficient individuals’ who need great help. And, with inaccuracies in Census they would be the most affected. Any gap in testing and any gap in discovering deficiencies will have the greatest impact on these communities.”
Morial also agreed and debated, “Without proper methods of data collection, it will be communities of color who will suffer the consequences. So far, Trump administration has repeatedly proposed xenophobic and racist policies - and its handling of the Census appears to be no different.”
Finally, Terry Ao Minnis came into the picture and protested, “Each Census is unique and second chances to get it right are rare. The funding that has been proposed up until now for the 2020 Census is inadequate for our communities. More needs to be done.”
Taking a jab at Congress, she concluded, “This is an America where everyone counts. We need to make sure that is the case for this census. Congress must do its job to ensure the Census Bureau has what it needs to get it right.”
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