One of the focal points at last week’s National Urban League convention, held here at the McCormick Place Convention Center, was how the upcoming census will affect the Black community.
One of the focal points at last week’s National Urban League convention, held here at the McCormick Place Convention Center, was how the upcoming census will affect the Black community.
The census not only determines the number of U.S. Representatives allotted for each community but it also determines funding for such things as schools, public health, transportation and law enforcement, said Stanley Moore, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau.
Moore was on the four-member panel discussing the 2010 census during a 90-minute convention workshop. Other panelists included Arnold Jackson, chief operating officer for the census and Melanie Campbell, executive director for the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that is dedicated to increasing Black civic engagement and voter participation.
“The census plays an important role in minority communities because it determines what funding many social service programs will receive,” Moore said. “Not only that but it also will help determine political representation in Washington.”
But more importantly, next year’s census will address some of the perplex problems in the Black community, Campbell said.
“Follow the money. That’s what I say. The Black community is hurting for more economic survival and the only way that can be sustained is with more funding,” she said. “This is perhaps the biggest problem the Black community faces and that’s not enough money.”
Historically though, Blacks have been under reported by the census and that must change, Jackson said.
“We estimate that 600,000 Blacks were not counted in the 2000 census. The 2000 census was good, but we want the 2010 census to be great,” Jackson told the Defender. “Everyone has a chance to participate in the census and they should.
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