I thought it odd about a month ago when the U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau sent me a letter telling me they would soon be sending me another letter with the United States Census 2010 form to be filled out and returned.About a week after I got the letter, telling me about a letter, that letter arrived.
About a week after getting the 2010 Census form I filled it out and mailed it.
I do not remember participating in a census before, not in 2000, not in 1990, not in 1980. Not ever. Did a Census taker knock on my door back during those previous decades?
So, I opened my mailbox this morning to find yet another letter from the U.S. Census Bureau. No, this one was not thanking me for sending in my Census info. It appeared to be a repeat of the one I'd already sent in.
Really inspires confidence in how well run this Census deal is.
The only questions asked on the Census are the names of who is residing in a domicile, their birthdates, their gender, the relationship of the domicile dwellers to the head of the domicile. And the domicile dweller's race or ethnic origin.
That last one, the race, ethnic origin questions, seemed, well, bizarre to me.
The Census asks in question 8, "Is Person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?"
Aren't Hispanic, Latino and Spanish all the same thing?
The answer choices are...
No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.
Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
Yes, Puerto Rican
Yes, Cuban
Yes, another Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin---Print origin, for example, Argentinean, Columbian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard and so on.
Then question 9 asks, "What is Person's race?
White
Black, African Am., or Negro
American Indian or Alaska Native---Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.
Asian Indian
Chinese
Filipino
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Other Asian---Print race, for example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on.
Native Hawaiian
Guamanian or Charmorro
Samoan
Other Pacific Islander---Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on.
Some other race---Print race.
The Census form gave no examples for "Some other race."
I did not realize til reading this Census form that there were so many different races.
I just opened the latest letter from the Census. So, it's not a mistake, as in an accidental second sending. This was sent on purpose.
A note inside says, in part, "A few weeks ago, the U.S. Census Bureau sent your household an official 2010 Census form. U.S. law requires you to respond."
"Return your form today. This is your last chance to respond by mail before a Census Bureau Representative contacts you."
Well, it's a good thing the government is flush with cash, so spending extra money sending out extra letters is no big deal.
Even though I've already returned the form, I fully expect to have a census worker knocking on my door.
So, if I wait until someone shows up, and then send in a form, does that mean I count twice as much?
ReplyDeleteNo, I just get paid twice as much :-)
ReplyDeleteI had to fill this out for my foster son who is Hispanic. I was left stupified as to what to fill in for race. He's definitely not white. I searched the web. The Census website was useless. I finally filled in Other and listed him as Central American Indian. Asian cultures got all sorts of choices and are approximately 13.5 million of them in the US, but 46.9 million Hispanics. Maybe Asians have better lobbyists?
ReplyDeleteLatino indicates a person from Latin America, Spanish indicates European Spanish, Hispanic indicates Spanish-speaking but not necessarily European. You can be Latino but not Hispanic (i.e. Brazilians) or Hispanic and not Latino (i.e. Filipinos).
ReplyDeleteThe race question is entirely based on self-identification. If you are a pasty-faced Irishman, you can tell a Census enumerator that you are Japanese, African, Martian, whatever, and they have to write it down. The head count is the most important aspect of the census.
As a census worker, I assure you that the Census Bureau has ways to avoid double counts. If they are uncertain about something, you'll get a visit from an enumerator to put the matter to rest. The Census is being extremely proactive in trying to get you to mail back questionnaires because it is cheaper to do so than to hire enumerators and send them to your house to talk to you personally.