This week I started work as a Census Enumerator for the 32nd U.S. Census effort. I'm honored to have been selected to contribute to this massive project to get a statistical snapshot of our nation.
One of the challenges facing all Enumerators is paranoia. Another is simply ignorance. Wednesday I rang the doorbell at an address which had not returned the mailed questionnaire. When I asked the person at the door to help me fill out the census form, he refused, stating that he believed "Obama and the government are trying to spy on us."
I asked him if he was aware of the following facts:
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The Census is not a government-sponsored project. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The first census was taken in 1790 and has been conducted every ten years since.
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Answers to questions are confidential and unavailable in their particulars for 72 years.
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People who refuse to stand and be counted in the census are invisible. Imagine a village who decided to boycott the census. They would have no representation and no funds for schools, roads, etc. would be available.
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The questions are not intrusive. For this census, will no longer use a long form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, which asked for detailed social and economic information. The 2010 Census will use only a short form asking ten basic questions, including name, sex, age, date of birth, race, and home ownership status.
He admitted he hadn't known any of this and agreed to complete the form with me. It took me longer to persuade him to work with me than it did to fill out the form (about six minutes).
When I left, he thanked me.
If you haven't sent in the form mailed to you, you'll be visited by a Census Enumerator. Please understand that he or she is working to help neighbors be counted. Without these counts, we lose representation and funding! For more information, click here.
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