Working with U.S. Census Bureau on Race Question

An Excuse for Data Disaggregation

Proponents of the data aggregation bill claim that they simply follow the same format as the census form. This can’t be more wrong.

  • The census data has strict data protection, that the Census Bureau is prohibited to release individual data to any government agency. When the state government agencies collect data, it is directly linked to an individual and available for the staff members of the government agencies.
  • Also, the Census Bureau already provides the disaggregated data as granular as the block level, which is sufficient for policy making. There is no need to collect data at the state level, wasting taxpayer money.

The race question on the census form, while posing little real harm other than being used as an excuse by proponents of data disaggregation, does have an issue with the format, that Asian Americans are note treated the same as other races (see image below), and we have been working with the senior officials at the Census Bureau to have it fixed in the next cycle.

Working with the Census Bureau has been a totally different experience. Officials from the Census Bureau have been understanding and collaborative, while the proponents of the data disaggregation bill in Massachusetts have repeatedly refused to have an open discussion.

A Legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act

The race question on the U.S. census form treats Asian Americans differently. The Census Bureau has realized it and has been working to address the issue.

The form on the left is how it looks today, and the form on the right shows our proposal.

This is a legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Ye Pogue, Vice President of the AAER, details the origin and harm in this article.

The 2015 National Content Test

The Census Bureau made an effort to fix it and experimented with two formats in its 2015 National Content Test, both of which are acceptable for us. See below.

The form to the left is the old (current) design, and the other two forms are two proposals being tested in 2015. However, the census bureau was not able to use either proposal in the 2020 Census because it combined ethnicity (Hispanic or not) and race into one question, which is not consistent with the guideline from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Click here for a full report of the 2015 National Content Test conducted by the Census Bureau.

Working with Census Bureau

Helen Yang, Vice President of the Asian Americans for Equal Rights, and Swan Lee, a prominent civil rights advocate in Boston, and community leaders from around the country went to D.C. in May 2018, and met with senior officials at the Census Bureau to discuss this and the 2020 Census in general, and they agreed to address this issue in the next cycle.

Helen Yang (the 4th from right), board member of the AAER, raised concerns about the race question on the Census Form in a meeting with two Census Bureau senior officials (at the head of the table) along with other community leaders across the nation in May, 2018 at Washington D.C..

During the trip, Helen and Swan also visited the Capital Hill and shared this flyer with over 30 members of the congress and senators.

Helen Yang (left) and Swan Lee (right) visited congressional offices and distributed flyers calling for attention to this issue in May 2018. The trip was made possible by the generous support of the community.

Public Comments on 2020 Census Form

In 2018, the Census Bureau accepted public comments for the 2020 Census form on regulations.gov. AAER submitted its comment and worked with partner organizations to encourage others to submit comments. In the end, the Asian Checkbox received 9,595 comments, out of which 9,540 was against the Asian checkbox. Click here for the full analysis by the Census Bureau of all public comments received.

Asian Checkbox received 9,595 comments in 2018, making it the second largest category of comments.

On August 7, 2018, AAER also sent a 16-page letter to the Department of Commerce on the census form. Click here for the full text of the letter.

Federal Complaint Against The Department of Commerce and The Census Bureau

To keep this issue a top priority for the Census Bureau, Asian Americans for Equal Rights led a coalition of Asian American Organizations (“Coalition”), consisting of 51 undersigned Asian American Organizations representing over 10,000 members and over 1,600 individuals, jointly filed an Administrative Complaint against the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau on June 9th, 2019, for unlawful racial discrimination against Asian Americans in the 2020 census questionnaire, pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Because of the strong foundation of mutual trust, the AAER communicated with the Census Bureau before the federal complaint was submitted. The Census Bureau fully understands that the intention is to keep this issue a priority, and we will continue to work together during the next cycle.

The cover page of the federal complaint against the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau.

Please find the full text of the federal complaint here.

The federal complaint arrived at the Department of Justice on Jun 14, 2019.

Looking Ahead

Through our conversations with the Census Bureau, we have been very impressed by the professionalism, empathy and openness of the senior officials. During the meeting with the Census Bureau senior officials, Helen Yang said, “if I am going to trust any government agency with my country of origin data, it is the Census Bureau.”

During the 2020 Census, Asian Americans for Equal Rights worked closely with partner community organizations to promote the importance of census and encourage everyone to take it. We provided the guidelines (in English and Chinese) on how to fill out the race question under the constraint of the current formatting of the question.

We are committed to continue to work with the Census Bureau to fix this issue in the next cycle.