views guest column guest column Everyone Counts continued from page 5 T since the 1950s. he Constitution requires that a The stated reasoning for including census be performed every 10 such a question — determining the years to determine how hun- number of citizens — is circumspect, dreds of billions in federal dollars are at best. Its implicit goal is to spent each year, reallocate repre- marginalize communities sentative seats by population and, of color, specifically Latino/ of course, collect and share accu- Hispanic immigrants, and rate statistical data about persons deter overall participation in living in the United States. The the census and civic activi- 2020 census participation and the ties. accuracy of its data are in peril. Even before this question The U.S. Census Bureau should was proposed, the bureau’s not move forward with the pro- Ruby Robinson own researchers noticed low posed question asking about the participation rates in field citizenship status of every house- tests last year by Latino/ hold member for its 2020 census. Hispanic respondents based Doing so will skew the results on concerns over their data confiden- of this critical census that, even at its tiality. These concerns are heightened most accurate, undercounted people of now among already “hard-to-count” color by 1.5 million in 2010 (Hispanics populations, which include non-English by 1.5 percent, African Americans by 2.1 speakers and persons who distrust the percent and Native Americans by 4.9 government. percent). The climate of fear and mistrust of the This undercount will increase in 2020 government is, based on my conversa- if this question is allowed to remain. tions every day with undocumented and Since the first census in 1790, we, documented persons whom I represent, as a nation, historically undercounted at an all-time high. My clients are wor- African Americans because they were ried about reporting crimes to the police considered three-fifths of a person for when they are the victims and driving constitutional purposes. Even after the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868, their children to the doctor for fear of being detained. Expecting full census African Americans and other persons of participation in this climate is farcical. color continued to be undercounted in This question serves no statistically censuses (and, of course, marginalized and discriminated in almost every other legitimate purpose, and its inclusion will only skew results to favor the pres- aspect of American life, too). ervation of a white minority in power The recent decision to include a through electoral representation and question asking about the citizenship status will lead to an even more statisti- greater federal funding at the expense of those, who, statistically, comprise a cally significant undercount by, likely, majority in many areas of our country. millions of people! This question has This week marks Rosh Chodesh Iyar, not been asked in the decennial census Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Digital/Social Media Editor: Hannah Levine hlevine@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin2132@gmail.com Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us | Advertising Sales Sales Director: Keith Farber kfarber@renmedia.us Account Executives : Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy Sales Manager Assistants : Karen Marzolf | Business Offices Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner when, we learn from the aptly named book Numbers 1:2 that Moses and Aaron were instructed by God to take a second census of the entire Israelite community living in the wilderness. Unlike the pre- vious census that occurred just weeks earlier in Exodus 30:11, which was used to levy a half-shekel from everyone for building the mishkan, this new census was used to determine the number of men in each tribe available for military service. Ramban insightfully notices that one difference with this census is that each person is counted individually, by name, before Moses and Aaron. Thus, when Moses and Aaron are making decisions, they are not doing so based on numbers alone, but rather, remembering all the people (not numbers) they are respon- sible for. Let us be guided by this interpreta- tion that we, as a nation, are more than just numbers of citizens or non-citizens. We are people. And our census ought to reflect our inherent values as humans in what questions are asked. Please share your concerns on the census with your elected officials right away. No community or state (Michigan included) can afford to lose representa- tion or federal dollars with a projected undercount. And if your elected official is unwilling to say something publicly, please tell him/her that you can be counted on to vote accordingly in the next election. • Ruby Robinson is the supervising attorney of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. He also sits on the board of the JCRC|AJC and is the co- chair of its Government Relations Committee. | Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Amy Pollard, Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker | Detroit Jewish News Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller: Craig R. Phipps | Fulfillment Joelle Harder jharder@renmedia.us a professional geek who is driven to search for new ideas to benefit the Jewish people and Israel. His drive stems from his passion for Israel advocacy and connecting Israelis with Jewish Americans. My wife and I have been donating to Cause: Israel’s various charities for the last year, and it takes less than a few minutes each month to choose an excellent cause in Israel. I have learned so much about what’s needed in Israel since sign- ing up. In the last year, IsraAID, Beit Hayeled and Rescuers without Borders are some of the organiza- tions I had never heard of that my family has supported. TRUSTED ORGANIZATIONS AND TAXES MADE EASY One of the things that makes Cause:Israel so simple and effective: 100 percent of your donation is tax deductible. It does not take any fees from donors. You will get a receipt after each donation is processed, and one report and receipt at the end of the year for all the contribu- tions you made. Tikkun olam has never been as easy because of causeisrael.org. 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