NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: DRASTIC 2020 UNDERCOUNT OF BLACK AMERICANS DEMANDS URGENT REFORM TO CENSUS OPERATIONS

National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial

 National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial today called the 2020 Census undercount of Black, Latino, and American Indian residents “outrageous” and urged the Census Bureau to address the crisis with all due urgency.

“These numbers are devastating.” Morial said of the 3.3% undercount of the Black population. “Compounded by yet another overcount of the white population, this will have devastating consequences for communities of color.”

Not only was the 2020 Black undercount alarmingly worse than the 2010 undercount of 2%, Morial said, the percent of the Black population omitted in 2020 -- that is, completely missed -- grew from 9.3% in 2010 (4 million) to 10.2% of the Black population omitted or missed.  

“The Census Bureau must rethink and explore more accurate measures of the undercount and develop new data collection methodologies and operations for diverse populations,” Morial said.  “Racial inequities are baked into the history of the Census process and the institution of the Census Bureau as an agency.  To uphold the Constitutional promise and protection of equal representation for all,  the Census Bureau must immediately take steps to rethink and detoxify its operations relative to racial inequities, and Congress must fund research into new operations and sources of data starting next year.  

The National Urban League shared its concerns about Census operations earlier this month with Census Bureau Director Robert Santos, the Congressional Black Caucus and President Biden. Morial said he would reiterate the warnings considering the data released today.

“More granular data reflecting 2020 Census undercount measurement and coverage are needed beyond today’s report and upcoming state level data planned for release this summer,” Morial said. “Local and state leaders need more detailed information to understand where the gaps are and how to re-allocate federal funding to where the needs exist.”  

• Among the National Urban League’s recommendations are:
  Broadened opportunities for cities, counties, tribes to challenge their census counts using additional data sets at the local level, such as school enrollment numbers, along with technical assistance to help localities through the challenge process.
• An end to the use of overcounted non-Hispanic Whites to determine the undercount for Black and other populations of color, which obscures the actual number of historically undercounted populations omitted in the Census. 
• More "equity-based" research and design of census surveys that address the essential causes of the differential undercount, while using applications and scientific techniques that are sensitive to the methodological needs of an increasingly diverse society.
• Congressional Hearings on the 2020 Census to identify the magnitude of operational and methodological shortcomings regarding populations of color.

Morial added, “The Census Bureau must prioritize President Biden's executive order on racial inclusion to correct the enduring legacy of employment discrimination and underrepesentation in the federal workforce--not only in senior level positions for African Americans, but in mission critical positions responsible for census research and design.”

 

Black Mayors to Trump : Do Not Circumvent the Supreme Court on the Census Citizenship Question

The African American Mayors Association celebrates that the Supreme Court's decision requiring the Department of Commerce to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census will not be challenged by the Trump Administration.

African American mayors from across the country previously highlighted the danger of including a question like this in a letter to Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross; and director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Steven Dillingham. With the Trump Administration's attempts to circumvent the Court's ruling, AAMA cautions against any and all efforts to target vulnerable populations with citizenship data.

"We were happy to know that the highest Court in the land had struck down a flagrant attempt by the Trump Administration to undermine and undercount millions of people of color making their home in our country. The ruling reaffirmed the rule of law and the checks and balances that make our nation great," said AAMA President, Mayor Hardie Davis, of Augusta, Georgia. "Now is the time for the Trump Administration to comply with the letter and spirit of the ruling to prevent disenfranchisement for the communities we lead."

AAMA commends the advocates who are continuing to fight for a fair and accurate census. Latinos, Afro-Latinos, as well as those from the African and Asian Diasporas, deserve to have resources allocated fairly in their communities and have equitable representation in government. African American mayors will continue to fight to ensure we have an accurate census count and that citizenship data is not used to target vulnerable populations.

About AAMA

The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) is the only organization exclusively representing over 500 African-American mayors across the United States. AAMA seeks to empower local leaders for the benefit of their citizens. The role of the AAMA includes taking positions on public policies that impact the vitality and sustainability of cities; providing mayors with leadership and management tools; and creating a forum for member mayors to share best practices related to municipal management.

SOURCE African American Mayors Association

NAACP sues Trump for failing to prepare to count minorities in 2020 census

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), America’s largest and original legacy civil rights organization, together with Prince George’s County, Maryland, the NAACP Prince George’s County Branch and two county residents, sued the federal government today to combat the imminent threat that the 2020 Census will substantially undercount African Americans and other people of color in communities throughout the United States causing inequalities in political representation and deficiencies in federal funding of those communities.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, seeks to compel the Bureau of the Census, an agency within the Department of Commerce, to prepare for and conduct a full and fair Census in 2020, as the U.S. Constitution expressly requires. “The NAACP is committed to ensuring that the 2020 Census does not systematically undercount communities having large African-American populations, such as inner-city neighborhoods, while substantially overcounting communities that are less racially diverse,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO. “The Census must not serve as a mechanism for diluting the political power of African-American communities and depriving them of their fair share of federal resources for an entire decade,” he added. “We are prepared to fight against any plan that effectively turns the census into another form of voter suppression and economic disempowerment in our communities.”

The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to conduct an “actual enumeration” of the U.S. population every ten years. Census results serve as the basis for apportioning congressional seats to each state, redrawing legislative district lines at both the federal and state level and enforcing voting rights laws. The federal government also uses Census data to distribute billions of dollars to local, state and tribal governments.

The 2020 Census, however, remains inadequately funded. The Census Bureau is understaffed, and is emphasizing processes that will only serve to increase undercounts in communities of color. The Bureau has no permanent leadership in place to direct the count, and to make matters worse, the Bureau has cancelled crucial pre-Census field tests and is rushing to digitize the Census without adequate cybersecurity protections, thus undermining public confidence in the privacy of Census data and threatening to inflate the undercount. Further still, the Bureau plans to devote insufficient resources to community partnerships, door-to-door canvassing and other processes designed to encourage communities of color to participate in the Census.

The issues facing the 2020 Census have already caused the Government Accountability Office to label it a “high risk program.” Prince George’s County has acutely felt the harmful effects of past Census undercounts. The county, which has a majority African-American population, suffered a 2.3 percent net undercount in the 2010 Census—the largest net undercount of any county in Maryland, and one of the largest of any county in the nation.

“An accurate census count is critical to the federal funding, political representation, and operations of Prince George’s County,” said Prince George’s County, MD, Executive Rushern L. Baker, III. “We must not be undercounted again like we have been over the past 30 years. On behalf of the 900,000 residents of Prince George’s County, I am proud that we are standing and fighting alongside the NAACP to make sure our County gets treated fairly and equally under the law. A vast majority of the residents of Prince George’s County are members of this nation’s historically disenfranchised populations. We cannot let this continue in 2018, 2020, or any year moving forward. This lawsuit will help protect future generations of systemic under-resourcing from our federal government.”

Bob Ross, president of the NAACP Prince George’s County Branch and a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, agrees that an ill-prepared Census hurts his community in several ways.“When the Census Bureau undercounts my community, we lose political power, and fewer of our federal tax dollars end up coming home to fix our roads, run our schools, and fund our federal programs,” said Ross. “We felt these effects in the aftermath of the 2010 Census, and all signs indicate that the 2020 Census will be even worse.”

“The priorities embraced by the Bureau for the 2020 Census threaten to worsen substantially the undercount of communities of color that occurred in the 2000 and 2010 censuses,” said Charlotte Schwartz, a Law Student Intern with Yale Law School’s Rule of Law Clinic, which represents the plaintiffs.

This lawsuit is not the first time the NAACP has taken legal action related to the 2020 Census. In October of 2017, the NAACP, NAACP Connecticut Conference and NAACP Boston Branch filed suit under the Freedom of Information of Act to compel the Commerce Department to produce documents about preparations for the 2020 Census. That suit is ongoing. The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are represented by the Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School, Jenner & Block, and the NAACP Office of the General Counsel. The Rule of Law Clinic also represents the plaintiffs in the pending Freedom of Information Act case.

ABOUT THE NAACP:

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our six “Game Changer” issue areas by visiting NAACP.org. To become a member of the NAACP, and part of the solution, visit: http://www.naacp.org/membership/.