I understand that there are many blog entries about the census already and I KNOW that many of you have heard the mantra, “10 Questions, 10 minutes!” many times.  However, I think it’s important to reiterate once again why participating and sending that blue census form is so important for the API community since the Census Day, April 1, is already right around the corner.

Under the mandate of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, the United States counts the total number of its population every ten years for congressional reapportionment purposes.  It is very important that everyone – regardless of their citizenship – is counted because the census data directly influences where and what programs the federal fund of $400 billion would be allocated in various communities.  Without an accurate census data, the $400 billion of federal funding would not reach those who need it the most.  However, there are many obstacles for people to fill-out the census forms.  Some of the obstacles people faces are language barriers (those who are illiterate or only know a language that is not provided in translation by the census), accessibility problems, and lack of knowledge about the census.  Thus the Japanese American Citizens League – in both coasts – is working hard to reach not only the Japanese-Americans but also the post-World War II generations, the Shin-Issei and Nissei.

JACL worked in collaboration with the census bureau specialists to target the hard to count Japanese American populations (mostly the Shin-Issei and Nissei) near Los Angeles area by going to their events, distributing census materials, demystifying certain myths they had about the census, and answering questions such as why non-citizens should fill-out the census forms. 

We also worked with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center with a press event held on March 24, 2010, with other Asian-Pacific Islander coalitions to not only raise awareness of the severe undercount of the API population in the United States, but also to bring up certain topics like the census form enabling multiracial people to check as many racial/ethnic categories they identify themselves with. 

The event presented ethnic-specific community solutions being deployed this year to combat the historic undercount of APIs.  Such efforts include the Thai community’s “What is your #9?” campaign, referencing the ethnic identity question on the Census form that enables communities to write in their ethnic identification.  Many API ethnicities have a box they can simply check.  However, smaller or more recent ethnic groups such as the Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Tongan, and Pakistani must write in their ethnicity in order for their identification to be reflected.

In addition to the importance of collecting ethnic-specific Census data, another important undercount issue is the accurate capture of data on mixed race individuals.  Because the 2010 Census is the second time that individuals can mark more than one ethnicity, mixed-race community members must also be educated about the importance of having accurate racial and ethnic Census data.  This is very important because by enabling people to check as many racial/ethnic categories on the census, this will allow more federal funds to be distributed to multiple API communities all over the United States.

For our community, there are 3 main concerns we want to bring up – especially for JACL and other older API organizations.  First, we have an older organization and the elderly might forget to fill out their forms.  Please remind our seniors to fill out their forms and help them fill it out.  Second, college students living away from home are counted at school and not at home.  Lastly, a big concern is the new availability on the census form for an individual to identify themselves with more than one racial/ethnic category.  It’s important for mixed people to check off all appropriate boxes in the race category, even if they don’t necessarily identify with their racial ancestry.

Remember to fill-out your census!  It is only 10 questions and takes only 10 minutes!  Be counted for the betterment of not only your community, family, and friends, but yourself!

Chie Akiba is Policy Advocate Inter for the Japanese American Citizens League-Pacific Southwest District, located in Little Tokyo of Los Angeles. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is the nation's oldest and largest Asian American civil and human rights organization (Photo from www.fillinourfuture.org).