DESPITE PANDEMIC, CENSUS 2020 STILL IMPORTANT

Illinois State Senator Robert Peters discusses the importance of representation and why people should fi ll out the Census during an event at the DuSable Museum. Photo by Tia Carol Jones
Illinois State Senator Robert Peters discusses the importance of representation and why people should fi ll out the Census during an event at the DuSable Museum. Photo by Tia Carol Jones

Despite pandemic, Census 2020 still important

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Community organizations and elected officials are continuing to get the word out about filling out the U.S. Census form.

At a recent event at the DuSable Museum, radio personality Bonnie DeShong hosted a town hall conversation with leaders of community organizations, which included Sheryl Holman, CEO of Community Assistance Programs and elected officials, including Illinois State Senator Robert Peters and 20th Ward Alderwoman Jeanette B. Taylor.

According to Taylor, in her ward, the Census from 2010 wasn’t bad, but it could’ve been better, she said. This year, the ward was in 49th place. Taylor added in parts of her ward, there are undocumented Latinx and African people. “It’s me gaining their trust to get them to fill out the Census and making sure I’m in those spaces so they’re able to fill out the Census,” Taylor said.

One thing community organizations and elected officials, as well as Census workers have made clear, is that immigration status is not part of the information being collected. They’ve also reassured undocumented people that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be given the information to round up people later.

Taylor said the constituents in her ward are coming around to the idea of filling out the Census so they can be counted.

“When they figure out it’s only ten minutes, that you can do it on their phone, a lot of time[s] when I’m at an event, either the state or the county has a van, so they can get internet access. They have tablets [and] they make it so easy and convenient for people to fill out the Census,” Taylor said. “At every Census event I went to in the last week, people have actually come and filled out the Census. So, it makes me feel good about it.”

Encouraging people to, “take that 10 minutes to fill out the Census,” Taylor added filling out the Census will mean her ward will help fund schools, headstart programs, Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) benefits, unemployment and the construction of roads.

Peters said the risk of not filling out the Census comes down to representation.

It is utterly important for people to fill out the Census so that Black people are represented in the halls of power, Peters said. Not filling out the Census could result in losing seats and representation, he added.

Not having a fair and good count of the Census poses a risk of not having people who look “like us and [who] come from our communities representing us in Springfield,” Peters said. “For us to be able to get the resources and representation that we need, we need to make sure we have those folks from our community representing us in Springfield.”

“You could be represented by somebody who doesn’t care about your interest in a way that is deeply connected to the community,” Peters added. It’s the idea of making sure as many people as possible are enfranchised, particularly on the South side, Peters continued, and by completing the Census, that’s a “key component of making that happen,” he said.

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