February 6, 2009
By MERCEDES OLIVERA
New technologies will certainly play a role in the upcoming 2010 census.
Hand-held computers, Global Positioning System software and digital maps are a few of the devices to be used by census workers when they start counting heads in May of next year.
But old-fashioned, person-to-person contact may still end up working best among Latinos, who have traditionally been undercounted in past demographic endeavors.
That means more bilingual census workers and questionnaires, and outreach campaigns on Spanish-language media and with community organizations to reassure viewers and listeners that all data is confidential.
These are some of the methods the Census Bureau plans to use as it gears up for the decennial headcount, said Gabriel A. Sánchez, the agency’s regional director in Dallas.
The agency recently opened six offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has one of the largest Hispanic populations in the state. The bureau plans to open a total of 39 offices in Texas and will employ 75,000 people to work in a three-state region that also includes Louisiana and Mississippi.
“Based on our analysis of error rates, we know that Latinos are traditionally undercounted,” so the agency hopes to improve its success rate by working directly with grass-roots organizations, Sánchez said.
One of the organizations that will be working closely with the bureau to ensure an accurate headcount is the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). It has designed a nationwide campaign, Hágase Contar –Make Yourself Count – that will launch this April. The campaign is considered a crucial element of its mission to involve more Latinos in the civic process.
“The census is a civil rights issue,” said Arturo Vargas , executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund. “It’s part and parcel of the empowerment movement by Latinos that we’ve seen over the past three years.”
That movement started with the spontaneous nationwide marches of 2006, he said. NALEO followed with a campaign to get Latino immigrants to apply for citizenship and register to vote. Then there was the record turnout of 10 million Hispanic voters in the November elections.
“The census is the next step,” Vargas said. “Everybody can be counted.”
As you know, the count is crucial because it ensures an accurate distribution of federal funds to cities: Roads, classrooms and hospitals all rely on census data collected every 10 years.
It’s also the basis for the reapportionment of congressional seats and redistricting, a contentious issue between Republicans and Democrats in recent years.
Consequently, many Latino elected officials and leaders monitor the activities of the census closely.
“The importance of an accurate census can’t be underestimated,” said state Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, “because local, state, and federal funds – and political power – must accurately reflect the strength and size of the Latino community.”
Source: Dallas Morning News
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