Why the 2010 and 2020 Census Reports Were Different

Many have waited for this issue to be reported by the mainstream, media for a long time. It is personal and proves once again how ignorant racism and bigotry are, and how prejudices harm everyone.

Few Americans understand the importance of the Decennial Census.

The Constitutional Convention, which began in 1787, agreed that a census was necessary to provide services for every citizen in every state, based on population. Thomas Jefferson was charged with organizing the first Decennial Census in 1790. The Census has continued every 10 years since, regardless of events in the nation, including world wars. It is federal law, and every citizen is required to participate.

Most Americans, being self-centered and without an understanding of its importance will ask, “what’s in it for me?” The answer is, “a lot.”

For each person counted in each state, $1,000 each year is returned to the state. That is $10,000 every ten years. This is a perfect example of how American tax dollars. These funds are used to build or repair hospitals, schools, roads, and other public necessities.

Decennial Census workers are not concerned with anything other than counting people who live in their state, regardless of citizenship, race, religion, or any other factor. They are sworn to secrecy, facing a penalty of a $25,000 fine and 10 years in federal prison if they break that oath. To answer the questions, yes, this includes Immigration and the IRS. No one receives this information other than the Census Bureau, which disseminates information to each agency in its specified need.

How does the author know everything about the Decennial Census? He was deeply involved in the 2010 Decennial Census between March of 2009 and October of 2010.

Cooperation from the Black and Hispanic communities, and others including priests, ministers, etc., special efforts to find homeless and undocumented immigrants were a huge success.

There is a permanent census department with a specific focus on issues including healthcare, education, income, and living conditions, but the Decennial is paramount and its importance is immeasurable.

Here is where the difficulty comes into what should be an effective and near-perfect operation. The Census is under the auspices of the Treasury Department. In other words, it is controlled by the Washington Bureaucracy.

My team faced harassment from the permanent census employees in Denver constantly. They were concerned with only two issues: finishing their work on time and saving money. Accuracy was not important to them. People also faced lies from Fox News which falsely claimed that the Decennial Census was an invasion of one’s privacy, and suggested their viewers break federal law and refuse to be counted.

In 2010, the Obama Administration was in control of the Census Bureau and every other agency. Emphasis was placed on accuracy. American’s efforts produced some of the best data in history. When completed, the 2010 Decennial Census saved two billion dollars of America’sbudget, while maintaining a very high level of cooperation.

In 2020, Trump was in control of the Census Bureau. He attempted to eliminate the count of undocumented immigrants. He wanted to add a specific question about ‘citizenship’ to the Census form. He also made attempts to shorten the time designated to counting all of America’s people. Reports from the Census Bureau offer information condemning the results as “misleading and undercounted.”

Okay, people all know that Trump is a xenophobe and a white supremacist, but his bigotry resulted in a loss of federal funds for every state in the Union. He is directly responsible for decreases in funding which affects everyone in America.

Congress is also responsible for a less than successful 2020 census. In 2014, they voted to limit funding for the 2020 census. The Republican-controlled legislature decided that the spending limit for 2020 could not exceed that of the 2010 census. There was no adjustment for the increase in costs for the operation which was to occur a decade after the last. This is moronic. This rule was passed by men and women who are millionaires and have no concept regarding the changes yearly in costs for necessities, and everything else in the nation.

If re-elected, Trump and his incompetent party would have destroyed everything in the nation. The author has no doubt that the most successful plan in the nation’s history, social security, would have ended. All programs which help one-half of the nation’s people would no longer exist. Once again Americans living in poverty and the low-income level would virtually become slaves to America’s current plutocracy.

American’s founding fathers could not have addressed every problem which exists in the 21st century, but the Census has proven to be very effective, and very necessary. It should be conducted with sincerity and positive efforts to achieve an accurate representation of America.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

Brookings: The 2020 Census may be wildly inaccurate—and it matters more than you think; by Robert Shapiro
CNN: This is what could happen if the 2020 census fails to count everyone in the US; by Catherine E. Shoichet

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Phil Murphy’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Caren’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License