2020 Census robbed Black communities of billions and three House seats, civil rights group says
About two million Black Americans went uncounted in the latest Census, in what could be “the worst undercount in decades.”
(Photo: U.S. Census Bureau)
Earlier this week, the civil rights and advocacy organization, the National Urban League, panned the undercounting of racialized Americans not just in the 2020 Census, but for hundreds and hundreds of years.
The group is “calling for hearings in the House of Representatives to determine the extent of political interference in the Census and the immediate passage of federal voting rights legislation to prohibit racially-motivated gerrymandering of Congressional districts.”
The National Urban League is also calling on the Census Bureau to “expedite the release of its own report estimating undercounts and overcounts.”
The organization's main concern is a historic undercount of Black Americans in the 2020 Census, which “could rob Black communities of billions of dollars in federal funding and the equivalent of nearly three House seats."
A Sunday press release from the National Urban League called the undercounting of Black Americans “a deliberate campaign of sabotage,” adding that “the Trump administration made every effort to manipulate the Census for partisan gain.”
“Black Americans have been undercounted in every census since 1790, when we were counted as three-fifths of a person,” the release reads.
The group also concluded that about two million Black Americans went uncounted in the latest Census, in what could be “the worst undercount in decades.”
The National Urban League is the same organization that sued then-Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in 2020 to prevent the Trump administration from lowering the extended completion time for the 2020 Census from at least 7.5 months to 4.5 months. The group initially won the case before the Supreme Court overturned the decision.
Late in March, the Census Bureau announced that they would explore ways to adjust annual population estimates to account for the undercounting of racialized communities in the 2020 data. While the efforts may help ensure data is more accurate, adjustments will not affect apportionment numbers or redistricting figures.
That’s after a lawsuit settlement that requires the Census Bureau to hold periodic updates on the quality of census data. The settlement also forced a two-week extension of the 2020 count.
COVID-19, political interference, and funding woes
The 2020 U.S. Census, plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of a citizenship question from then-President Donald Trump, was a significant one: It laid the groundwork for state redistricting that will remain in effect until 2030.
Getting the Census right is critical, as data helps determine how $1.5 trillion in federal spending will be distributed, as well as how many congressional seats each state gets.
The U.S. Census Bureau revealed in March that 2020 data continues undercounting racialized groups in America, including Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Native American and Alaska Native communities.
The Bureau also determined the rates of non-Hispanic white and Asian populations were part of an overcount, while Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander populations were considered to be “neither an overcount nor an undercount.”
The 2020 Census’ Post-Enumeration Survey also found that children were undercounted, particularly young children up to the age of four.
Not all the news about the Census was bad. The Bureau estimates that Americans “grew wealthier [and] better educated,” while poverty declined during the years between 2016–2020, with declines in 49 states. Data shows that 15.5 per cent of Americans were impoverished between 2011–2015, before dipping to 12.8 per cent over the next five years.
Concerns were raised during the Census period about how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect data collection. The team conducting in-person field operations was temporarily put on hold early in the pandemic. The delay pushed the census collection into hurricane season, which also impacted the team’s ability to obtain accurate data, as well as wildfires and air quality issues that also played a significant role in “the public’s ability and willingness to respond to the 2020 Census.”
A report released in March found that the U.S. Census Bureau is in dire need of increased funding, to the tune of “tens of millions of dollars for the annual American Community Survey.” Experts say more funding would help the survey “include more respondents, be more nimble in adding or removing timely questions, and speed up the release of results.”
Currently, $226 million is allocated each year for the American Community Survey.
A follow-up report is set to be issued sometime in May, with additional information on the strengths and weaknesses related to the process of collecting Census data during the 2020 period.