June 22, 2020 | Karl Jang | UC Davis
For me, the 2020 Census is not only my first census in the United States, but also the first one submitted by myself. My only prior experience with the census was the 2010 Population and Housing Census of South Korea, which awarded two volunteer service hours to students if completed online. When I asked my parents to respond, however, they were reluctant; I later found out that the Korean Census contains over 40 questions, including sensitive information such as the name of the graduated college, date of the parents’ marriage and even the existence of any deceased offspring. While detailed censuses could, of course, provide meaningful insights, all of these findings can be void if responders were discouraged to truthfully submit their answers in the first place.
I assumed this would be the norm in America as well. For almost three months since receiving the first mail notifying my roommate and I regarding the upcoming census, erroneously thinking that it would take forever to fill out the questionnaire, we shoved it aside from our priority list. After responding to nine questions on my laptop in less than ten minutes, in retrospect, I regret not finishing it earlier and missing out opportunities to talk about it with my acquaintances. Luckily, the UC Student Association provided me a chance to remedy my previous mistake and in order to take full advantage of this internship program, I have been educating myself to teach others about the census.
Being the first census since 2000 to coincide with the presidential election amidst of COVID-19 and social justice movements, regardless of ethnicity, citizenship status or political stance, the 2020 Census is an opportunity for all residents of the United States to practice their democratic rights. What truly differentiates censuses from elections are their inclusiveness: unlike elections in which only citizens are eligible to participate, so long as the respondent lives in the United States, everyone is encouraged to take part, by online, phone, or mail. As mentioned earlier, the survey is extremely straightforward, but it will influence the next ten years of America. For us college students, our headcounts will affect the allocation of financial aid grants and transportational developments, including the opening of new bus routes and road repairs for commuting students. Electoral districts and vital social welfare programs serving low-income students — SNAP, Medicaid and Section 8 Housing Vouchers Program, to name a few — are also determined by the census data.
All of these potentials, however, could be distorted if undercount occurs. Historically, due to our mobile characteristics, college students are officially designated as Hard-to-Count; the majority of UC students also identify themselves as ethnic minorities, who too are categorized as Hard-to-Count communities by the Census Bureau. Underrepresentation was one of many justifications for past discrimination and even today, undercounted communities could be denied from sufficient funding intended to alleviate the impact of systematic racism. With the deadline of this year’s census extended all the way to October 31, everyone has been granted more than plenty of time to participate; we should not let this opportunity go in vain.
