John,

2020 will mark the beginning of the once-a-decade census count that has been conducted in the United States for over 200 years. This is a critical tool used to determine political representation and funding for community services and our most critical environmental and health programs for the entire country. Ensuring everyone is counted is a deeply democratic value, one that people from every community and political view can understand.

But if we don’t have an accurate count it can be used to isolate, under-represent, and under-resource communities. This leaves far too many communities with growing environmental and public health problems and not enough resources to deal with them. History has shown us that the census, if done incorrectly, has the potential to be used for racial segregation and systemic underfunding.

From the first census in 1790, inaccurate counts have been used to discriminate and leave far too many of us uncounted and without a voice. The first census only accurately counted white men and women. Slaves were counted as three fifths of a person and Native Americans were not counted at all. Census results have been used to restrict immigration for people coming from countries such as Greece, China, Ireland, Italy, and the Philippines.

Follow the work of the Washington Census Alliance and learn how you can get involved in advocating an accurate and complete 2020 census count.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration proposed adding a question on citizenship status to the census, which was then rejected by the Supreme Court. The question has been explicitly cited by legal experts and immigrant rights advocates for intimidating those who live in the United States but are not citizens. This intimidation affects people who are here legally and those who are undocumented.

Without full participation from everyone we won’t have all the information we need to make better decisions. And as our climate changes, accurate information is especially important to addressing the risks posed by increased fires, flooding, and other natural disasters.

We know we still have work to do. But we’ve come a long way since the first census and today we have an opportunity to build on that past by always reaching for a better, more inclusive process that recognizes all of us.

We all deserve a healthy place to live and a clean environment, and over the next year we have a once-a-decade chance to take a critical step in the right direction.

Get involved and help fight for an accurate census!

Onward,

Emily Krieger
Political and Civic Engagement Manager

Image by Washington Census Alliance