2020 Census: Undercounting people of color
Donald Trump’s stolen-election narrative may be his most notorious attempt to subvert democracy, said Ja’han Jones in MSNBC.com, but it was “far from the only one.” His administration “worked hard to discourage people—particularly nonwhite people—from reporting to the census,” and last week the Census Bureau revealed that the 2020 survey miscounted nearly 19 million people. That includes an overcount of white Americans and an undercount of Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans. These errors were “considerably worse” than in previous censuses, said The Washington Post in an editorial. Nearly 5 percent of American Hispanics, for example, were missed. And the Trump administration deserves “the lion’s share of the blame.” It “did everything in its power” to skew the count away from people of color, shortening the counting period, and publicly announcing it would add a citizenship question to its questionnaire to intimidate Latinos. Although the Supreme Court blocked that cynical ploy, many immigrants were afraid to participate.
There was “a battery of other problems” that were unavoidable, said Dan McLaughlin in National Review. Covid-19 lessened the effectiveness of doorto-door census taking, as many people became afraid to open their door to a stranger and respond to questions. Wildfires in the West and hurricanes on the East and Gulf Coasts forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. But in “a big, unforced error” for Republicans, GOP governors in Florida, Texas, and Arizona did little or nothing to promote the census, while blue states invested heavily in getting people counted. As a result, the counted population growth in red states fell short of expectations, so fewer House seats shifted there. Don’t expect a recount, though: It would face “formidable political obstacles,” cost billions, and might be deemed unconstitutional.
“So where do we go from here?” asked G. Cristina Mora and Julie Dowling in the Los Angeles Times. The legislative maps that relied on faulty data “can’t be undone,” but the Census Bureau’s recent corrections could help ensure that more of the $1.5 trillion in federal funds for public services is distributed to where people really are. For 2030, we should consider rephrasing the race and ethnicity questions to clear up any ambiguity for Middle Easterners and Hispanics of mixed ancestry, as well as creating new rules to shore up the bureau’s political independence. “The decennial count must never again be held hostage to presidential whims.”