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Demand accessible legal representation.
Public defenders represent criminal defendants unable to hire a lawyer for themselves. They only exist because Clarence Gideon petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court from a prison cell. He had been forced to represent himself in court since his home state of Florida only provided free legal counsel for those facing the death penalty (C-Span). The Supreme Court agreed that this infringed on Gideon’s Sixth Amendment rights, ruling that “lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries” (Department of Justice) and creating a system offers legal representation to all those accused of a crime, regardless of their ability to pay (Georgia State University).
TAKE ACTION
Support the Legal Services Staff Association to demand fair working conditions at Legal Services NYC.
Follow and donate to Gideon’s Promise, a public defender organization that provides mentorship and training.
Donate to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
GET EDUCATED
By Andrew Lee (he/him)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation became effective Tuesday (Statesman). Cuomo left office in disgrace after a damning report found Cuomo sexually harassed and created a hostile work environment for female employees. A number of district attorney offices in the state have already requested information, raising the possibility of criminal charges as well (ABC News).
We don’t know if charges will be filed, let alone the outcome of a potential trial. But we do know Cuomo would be able to afford world-class legal representation in court. Already a multimillionaire (Yahoo Finance), his $50,000 annual state pension is higher than the median per capita income of the state he governed (U.S. Census Bureau). Sadly, despite the promise of legal representation for all facing criminal charges, the resources afforded the accused vary widely depending on their wealth.
Public defenders represent criminal defendants unable to hire a lawyer for themselves. They only exist because Clarence Gideon petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court from a prison cell. He had been forced to represent himself in court since his home state of Florida only provided free legal counsel for those facing the death penalty (C-Span). The Supreme Court agreed that this infringed on Gideon’s Sixth Amendment rights, ruling that “lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries” (Department of Justice) and creating a system offers legal representation to all those accused of a crime, regardless of their ability to pay (Georgia State University).
However, there remains a deep gulf between those forced to rely on a public defender and those who can afford a private lawyer. Even the Department of Justice declared that “the promise of Gideon remains unfulfilled… Many defenders struggle under excessive caseloads and lack adequate funding and independence, making it impossible for them to meet their legal and ethical obligations to represent their clients effectively” (Department of Justice). Because of a lack of public defenders, those accused can wait over a year in jail until an attorney is even appointed to them. Some defendants are unable to communicate with their defenders, who can only devote minimal time to each of their cases. In Washington State, this ends up being an hour for each defendant (Fordham) . Shuranda Williams, who saw her public defender only one time in a year while awaiting a trial in which she may be imprisoned for life, said, “At least if I got out, I could work and afford a decent lawyer” (Marshall Project). Governor Cuomo himself settled in a class-action lawsuit that alleged that New York “failed to provide adequate legal defense for the poor” (N.Y. Times). Over-policed and over-prosecuted populations like Black Americans “bear the brunt of our public defender systems’ underfunding and overwork.” This problem is pervasive since four out of five people accused of a felony are forced to rely on a public defender (The Guardian).
Overworked public defenders are correlated with increased conviction rates, longer sentences, and higher rates of wrongful convictions (Brennan Center). While private attorneys take as many cases as they please, public defenders are regularly tasked with hundreds of cases each year (Marshall Project). The average public defender is paid just $47,500 out of law school — $2,500 less than Gov. Cuomo’s pension (Fordham).
Being able to afford a private attorney is a deviation from the norm: dependence on an overworked, under-resourced public defense system. Those with wealth provide themselves a significantly higher level of legal protection than almost everyone else, especially those from exploited and marginalized communities. The declaration that all are entitled to legal representation in American courts was a significant decision, but if representation remains inadequate, that right becomes fiction.
Key Takeaways
The Supreme Court ruled that those who can’t afford a lawyer must get a public defender to represent them in a criminal case.
In reality, public defense is so under-resourced that in some cases, lawyers can only spend an hour on average looking at cases.
One people with felony charges who can afford a private attorney get significantly more protection than the four of five who can’t.
RELATED ISSUES
10/16/2020 | Abolish the grand jury.
5/27/2021 | Advocate for our right to trial.
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Support Black poetry.
Amanda Gorman, a 23-year old Black woman, and the nation's first-ever youth poet laureate, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the Biden inauguration. Her poem, which you can read here in full, and her delivery of words captivated the nation and thrust her work into the spotlight.
Indeed, all of this alone is a reason to celebrate. But Black poetry has historical significance – living as a written form of protest that has outlasted unbeatable odds. By understanding how Black poetry has shaped our nation, we can appreciate Gorman and her words even more.
Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily! There was so much energy surrounding Amanda Gorman's performance at the inauguration. I hope that we carry that same energy forward to support the arts – particularly poetry – for all youth.
You'll notice that there's a LOT of links in this article, directing you to incredible works from Black poets. I highly recommend reading the content over the course of the next month. You can also explore books featuring the writers below through our (new!) bookstore.
Thank you for all your support. Consider subscribing for $7/month on Patreon. Or, you can give one-time on our website, PayPal, or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). You can also support us by joining our curated digital community.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Donate to Youth Speaks and First Exposures to safe space for youth, storytelling, and community building in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Learn how you can support local youth poetry initiatives in your community.
Bring poetry into your workplace or classroom. Alternatively, consider attending a poetry workshop by yourself or as a team.
GET EDUCATED
By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)
Amanda Gorman, a 23-year old Black woman, and the nation's first-ever youth poet laureate, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the Biden inauguration. Her poem, which you can read here in full, and her delivery of words captivated the nation and thrust her work into the spotlight.
Poetry readings during the inauguration aren’t necessarily new: Four presidents—John F. Kennedy in 1961, Bill Clinton in 1993 and 1997, Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013, and Joe Biden in 2021—have had poets read at their inaugurations (Poets.org). Amanda Gorman is by far the youngest, and the third Black poet (following Maya Angelou in 1993 and Elizabeth Alexander in 2009), to participate. She finished writing her poem after the riot at the Capitol, referencing scenes directly in the text (NYTimes).
Indeed, all of this alone is a reason to celebrate. But Black poetry has historical significance – living as a written form of protest that has outlasted unbeatable odds. By understanding how Black poetry has shaped our nation, we can appreciate Gorman and her words even more.
Black poetry began in the U.S. before it was even founded. In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first Black person and second woman to publish a book of poetry. An enslaved woman from The Gambia (she was renamed after the slave ship she arrived on, “the Phillis”) Whatley was taught to read and write English from her captors. Throughout her teenage years, she used poetry as a way to question the political and social injustices of the era. As an enslaved woman, no one in the U.S. was interested in publishing a collection of her work. Ultimately, her “less controversial” works were published in London (National Women’s History Museum). She was 20 years old. Read one of her works, “On Being Brought from Africa to America.”
Ever since, poetry has played a critical role in Black history. During the Civil Rights Movement, poets like Margaret Walker, Nikki Giovanni, and June Jordan used their work to “instill a sense of pride in one’s identity, to praise freedom fighters and honor fallen leaders, to chronicle acts of resistance, and to offer wisdom and strength to fellow activists” (Poetry Foundation). Consider “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall in response to the Birmingham Church Bombing by white supremacists in September 1963. Or “Riot” by Gwendolyn Brooks, commissioned by Black magazine Black Expressions in response to the protests sparked after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr (The Stranger). And “Afterimages” by Audre Lorde is a moving narrative of grief and despair after the brutal murder of Emmett Till.
Even today, Black literary leaders offer poignant narratives of the liberation we all strive for. I recommend “Trojan” by Jericho Brown, Lee Mokobe’s “Surviving Blackness,” or "Immigrant” by Nayyirah Waheed. But that doesn’t come without a cost. Black literary leaders were routinely censored and banned. Many people don’t realize that poet Maya Angelou is one of the most banned authors in the U.S. due to the topics in her autobiographical work “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” (New African). A school board in Alaska just banned this book last year (NBC News).
Furthermore, dozens of prominent African American writers were profiled by the FBI between 1919 and 1972 (The Guardian). One such writer was Claude McKay, a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance who wrote poems, like “America,” that protested racial and economic inequities (Poetry Foundation). The FBI would keep accounts of their travels, review their works before publication on the sly, and apparently considered “whether certain African Americans should be allowed government jobs and White House visits, in the cases of the most fortunate,” and “what the leading minds of black America were thinking, and would be thinking” (The Guardian). Surveillance of Black leaders is still happening today, but it is nevertheless encouraging to see Gorman sharing her work in that moment.
I reached out to Natalie Patterson (she/her/Queen), a Poet & Teaching Artist (natalieispoetry.com) who leads workshops for youth. She stresses poetry’s importance in Black history: “Poetry is a tool for liberation. It is access that can not be taken away. The act of writing is an act of manifestation. It is communing with the creator. It is one of our most powerful tools. Perhaps that is why it is not celebrated and elevated as it should be.”
And that is up to us – to celebrate it and elevate it, particularly for the next generation. It doesn’t just connect them to our history but gives them the tools to write their own. Patterson reflects on her work: “I think of the many young people I have taught, particularly the ones who were incarcerated. I think of how giving them a single sheet of paper and a pen allowed them to come to terms with some things, make peace, discover new things about themselves and the world. I think about how that is perhaps the best teaching I've ever done, to give them the tools, permission to be honest, and then get out of their way.
Storytelling is in our DNA. It is our inheritance and legacy.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Black poetry in the U.S. has been a revolutionary space throughout history
Black writers have been subject to censorship and harassment for their views
Black youth are a critical component to the future of Black poetry – and it's our responsibility to invest in it
RELATED ISSUES
8/25/2020 | Rally against racism in America’s art museums.
11/8/2020 | Rethink what a professor looks like.
11/19/2020 | Decolonize your reading habits.
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Rethink what a professor looks like.
When we talk about issues of diversity in higher education, we usually are referring to the student population. While it is important to work on increasing MFGLI (minority, first-generation, and low-income) student representation on college campuses, I’d like to focus on a problem commonly overlooked outside of the academy: the lack of diversity in those who research and teach at the university level.
Happy Sunday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. As we've discussed, much of what defines dominant culture is taught to us. This sounds meta, but we're also taught who's supposed to teach us by the racial and ethnic composition of teachers. Today, Ida joins us to express the importance of diverse faculty at the university level.
This is the Anti-Racism Daily, where we send one email each day to dismantle white supremacy. You can support our work by giving one time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). You can also give monthly or annually on Patreon. If this email was forwarded to you, you could subscribe at antiracismdaily.com.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Read articles and studies written by or featuring faculty of color, not just on issues of race but across topics and disciplines.
Support and/or donate to organizations like the Ford Fellows Fund and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, whose mission is to diversify academia through mentorship and professional development programs.
Read Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History in order to understand how the act of “making history” can reinforce structural inequality.
GET EDUCATED
By Ida Yalzadeh (she/her)
When we talk about issues of diversity in higher education, we usually are referring to the student population. While it is important to work on increasing MFGLI (minority, first-generation, and low-income) student representation on college campuses, I’d like to focus on a problem commonly overlooked outside of the academy: the lack of diversity in those who research and teach at the university level.
Although the U.S. Census shows that people of color account for over a third of the United States’ population, a 2017 survey reports that only 18.9% of full-time faculty in higher education identify as people of color (National Center for Education Statistics). Even worse, the number of faculty of color in the United States has not grown over the past decade (Inside Higher Ed). And this is a problem.
A lack of racial diversity in the professoriate means that the popular image of what a professor looks like remains predominantly white (and usually male). The consequences of this assumption are wide and varied. For students of color, this lack of representation in the academy means that they may not see themselves reflected in who teaches them. As a result, students of color may not feel like they belong in academic environments, leading to retention issues and perpetuating uneven enrollment (Forbes).
For faculty of color themselves, though, this underlying assumption of what a professor looks like speaks to how these individuals must face daily microaggressions and even direct, institutional harassment. Twitter hashtags like #blackintheIvory and academic threads
have exposed these issues. Faculty of color—particularly women of color faculty members—have been mistaken for cleaning staff, a spouse of a student, or a student. (As a woman of color who is a faculty member myself, I have commonly had people mistake me for a student or otherwise be in disbelief that I am, in fact, a professor.) One professor started a Twitter thread shared microaggressions he had received, including: “You speak so well—were you adopted?” and “I see you struggle with certain words that start with specific letters—I know that is a common problem for your people.”
Faculty of color also experience surveillance and harassment on campus. A few months ago, a Black professor at Santa Clara University described how campus security racially profiled her brother and followed him back to her home. Afterward, security required the professor to show her campus ID to prove she lived in her own house (HuffPost).
Moreover, many faculty of color must contend with institutions and disciplines that call their credentials and accomplishments into question. In 2019, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a professor of Classics at Princeton University, was speaking on a Society for Classical Studies conference panel when he was told by a white female independent scholar that the only reason he got his job was because he was Black, an accusation that reeks of tokenism (Inside Higher Ed). That she felt comfortable enough to make these remarks in public speaks to the reality of the academy as an overwhelmingly white institution. In 2015, only 10.5% of all Humanities doctoral degrees were awarded to people from underrepresented backgrounds, and the percentage for Classics doctoral degree holders is even less: 3.9% (American Academy of Arts and Sciences). While many at the conference denounced such racist remarks, her view highlights the entitlement endemic in these historically white spaces.
In response to this incident, Peralta commented on this pervasiveness: “White fragility disrupting the practice of grounded and data-backed critical scholarship: what a surprise… This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time I receive the ‘you got X because you’re Black’ treatment; and if I had a dollar for every scholar of color with the same experience, I’d hum Cardi B’s ‘Money’ all the way to a safe deposit box” (Medium).
But what is most troubling for Peralta—and for many other scholars of color—is what these institutions and disciplines are missing. They don’t realize that it is precisely because of a diverse faculty of scholars and teachers that new paths can be forged in research. As Peralta put it, “I should have been hired because I was Black… because my Black being-in-the-world makes it possible for me to ask new and different questions within the field, to inhabit new and different approaches to answering them” (Medium).
Through their research, a more diverse professoriate can ask a more diverse set of questions—questions that are critical of using whiteness and capitalism as the norm by which all other subjects and ideas are measured. In the United States, the history of knowledge production has established a Euro- & Western-centric point of view (Journal of Black Studies, Equity & Excellence in Education). While disciplines like sociology and public health have historically touted their commitment to “objectivity,” the particular standards by which issues such as the family unit and disease were measured assumed whiteness as the ideal (Seeing Race Again).
Although legitimate ways of knowing are produced outside of the Ivory Tower, it is still important to increase the number of faculty of color at institutions of higher education. It is high time that we expand our understanding of what a professor looks like. A more diverse faculty is another step towards further exploration of issues that are important to communities of color and their liberation. It is another step toward building a more equitable future.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A 2017 survey reports that only 18.9% of full-time faculty in higher education identify as people of color (National Center for Education Statistics)
A lack of racial diversity in the professoriate means that the image of what a “professor” looks like remains predominantly white & male.
Through their research, a more diverse professoriate can ask a more diverse set of questions—questions that are critical of using whiteness and capitalism as the norm by which all other subjects and ideas are measured.
RELATED ISSUES
11/1/2020 | Question billionaire philanthropy.
9/30/2020 | Close the racial wealth gap.
6/11/2020 | Support Black-owned businesses.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
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Make the justice system more diverse.
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is heart-wrenching. Her loss is likely to transform the upcoming election. Although our influence on the federal Supreme Court nomination is limited, there's a lot more we can do to promote judicial diversity throughout state and federal courts. Today we dive into the importance of representation and the true weight of this election.
Thank you for all your support! You can give one-time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe for $5/mo on our Patreon.
– Nicole
TAKE ACTION
1. Vote this November for a President that is more likely to choose a diverse, liberal Supreme Court nominee. Hint: it’s not Trump.
2. Nominations for Supreme Court justices are confirmed by the United States Senate, which is currently a Republican majority. It takes four seats to flip the Senate to a Democratic majority, which, based on current news, is more likely to confirm a liberal judge. Choose a Senate state battleground and support a candidate more likely to confirm a diverse, liberal Supreme Court nominee (Ballotpedia). Donate, phone bank, or volunteer if you’re in-state.
3. Support the MCCA LMJ Scholarship, which grants scholarships of $10,000 to students for their first year of law school to increase the diversity pipeline. Learn more and donate.
GET EDUCATED
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court known for her advocacy for women’s rights, passed away Friday from complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87 (NYTimes).
And as the nation mourns the loss of this trailblazing individual, the Trump administration is wasting no time to appoint a replacement. Trump released his shortlist of potential judges a couple of weeks ago, many of whom are men, nearly all are white, and all represent conservative views and values (NYTimes). If the administration does move forward, it will ensure that our Supreme Court has a conservative majority for years to come. Six of the nine seats would be held by Republican appointees (NYTimes). Justice Ginsburg was keenly aware of this, and days before her death, she dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed” (NPR).
Our nation is in the midst of an upheaval, one that is likely to transform the fabric of our democracy. That will be cemented through the decisions of our federal judicial system, particularly our federal Supreme Court. The added weight of choosing a Supreme Court nominee is likely to upend this election. Read more about the most significant Supreme Court cases in our history, many of which defined the rights and opportunities for marginalized individuals (Business Insider).
Although our Supreme Court justices hold significant power in the federal system, we can also do more to build a more diverse pipeline and increase representation across the federal justice system. The Supreme Court makes less than 100 decisions on cases each year, and although they are critical, many more are decided by the 94 federal district courts, and the 13 circuit courts that act as the first level of appeal (U.S. Department of Justice). It's critical we increase representation here, too, as we try to chart a more equitable future for us all.
Let’s start with the facts. As of 2019, more than 73% of sitting federal judges are men. 80% identify as white. Of the 20% that identify as people of color, 10% are African American, 6% are Hispanic/Latinx representation, and 2.6% are Asian. And there are only two American Indian judges sitting on the federal bench, making up just 0.1 percent of the federal judiciary compared with 0.7 percent of the U.S. population. In addition, less than 1% of judges publicly identify as LGBTQ+ (Center for American Progress). The first judge of color on the Supreme Court, Justice Thurgood Marshall, was appointed in 1967, 191 years after the founding of America (Washington Post).
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) has an active list of judges based on race/ethnicity and gender in each district, and a list of the diversity of judges appointed by each president through history (MCCA). The authors of the Center for American Progress study note that there’s no publicly available data on judges with a disability, which is “problematic and deserves more attention” (Center for American Progress).
Data for state courts is also disappointing. Only 15% of state supreme court seats nationwide are “held by individuals who are Black, Asian, Latino, or Native American,” and women hold 36% of state supreme court seats. This means that 24 states currently have an all-white supreme court bench, including eight states in which people of color are at least 25% of the state’s population (Brennan Center).
A few former presidents – both Democratic and Republican – have committed to diversifying the federal judiciary, including President Carter and President Clinton. But President Obama made the most significant strides. Out of his 324 judicial nominees during his presidency, over 60% were people of color, women, and sexual or gender minorities. He also nominated and confirmed more women than any other president in history (Center for American Progress). These efforts have regressed during the current administration; President Trump’s judicial picks, who have been 91% white and 81% male, are “the least racially and ethnically diverse of any presidential administration over the past 30 years” (Center for American Progress).
This might be considered common sense, but it’s important to note: the diversity of a federal judiciary increases the likelihood that decisions will represent the needs of marginalized communities. Judge Tashima, who was appointed in 1996, lived in an internment camp as a child during World War II. Read more about internment camps and the use of the word “internment” in a previous newsletter. He spoke about how that experience influenced his decision-making. The data proves it: he voted for more equal protection opinions since being appointed compared to his Ninth Circuit colleagues (California Lawyers Association).
“Because we are all creatures of our past, I have no doubt that my life experiences, including the evacuation and internment, have shaped the way I view my job as a federal judge and the skepticism that I sometimes bring to the representations and motives of the other branches of government”.
Atsushi Wallace Tashima, Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, via California Lawyers Association.
Furthermore, studies conducted on federal appellate courts have found that one female judge’s presence will increase the likelihood that male judges will make decisions for cases involving sexual harassment or discrimination will be in favor of the defendant. It also found that having at least one Black judge increases the likelihood that non-Black judges will support plaintiffs claiming violations of both the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action cases (Princeton).
A more diverse court would also sway public trust, which is increasingly important as younger voters feel disillusioned by our political system. At the 1999 National Conference on Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System, three pressing issues were identified: unequal treatment in the justice system, high cost of access to the justice system, and lack of public understanding (Perceptions of Fairness and Diversity in the Florida Courts). A 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that 68% of Black people feel that the courts mistreat Black people, compared to 27% of white people, and 40% of people who identify as Hispanic (Pew Research Center).
“People look at an institution and they see people who are like them, who share their experiences, who they imagine share their set of values, and that’s a sort of natural thing and they feel more comfortable if that occurs.”
Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, via NYTimes.
Part of creating a more diverse federal judiciary is diversifying the pipeline, which means dismantling the historical racism and discrimination embedded in our education system. It also means recruiting and retaining candidates in associate positions. Despite progress from years prior, recent data indicates that outcomes have stagnated, and in some cases, regressed (NYC Bar). A particular concern is attrition. In 2016, 36.2% of first-year associates represented marginalized communities, but by the eighth year, that percentage dropped to 20.5%, a significantly higher attrition rate than white associates during the same period (NYC Bar). And public criticism of the federal judiciary system can dissuade talented candidates from pursuing future opportunities.
But progress isn't completely unfounded. Consider the latest news from Colorado. In the past year and a half, Colorado’s Democratic governor has appointed more Black women to the statewide bench than his 42 predecessors combined (Essence). There are currently 8 Black women judges serving concurrently on Colorado’s statewide judiciary. In the world of business, the MCCA reports that the number of female general counsels and general counsels of color at Fortune 1000 companies is the highest recorded in the past 15 years (law.com).
By January 2021, over 200 federal will be eligible for senior status, which means new candidates can take their place. And of those 200 judges, more than half are white males (Center for American Progress). Despite our outrage over the federal Supreme Court composition, deciding who to nominate is up to the president. It’s up to us to use our voices to influence decisions on the federal and state level and invest in diverse candidates to support qualified candidates.
Key Takeaways
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has made the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice a critical component of the upcoming election
Efforts to increase representation in the federal judiciary have been dismantled by the Trump administration
Diversity of the federal judiciary influences public perception of the political system
Increasing the diversity pipeline can help ensure more diverse candidates are nominated and confirmed
We must vote for a president that will nominate a diverse Supreme Court justice candidate, and ensure a Senate that's more likely to confirm one
RELATED ISSUES
9/9/2020 | Make the census count.
8/9/2020 | Understand the unemployment gap | COVID-19
7/23/2020 | Know our racist presidential history.
7/21/2020 | Honor the legacy of Rep. John Lewis.
7/20/2020 | Protect your community from the harm of gentrification.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza
Make the census count.
It's Wednesday and there's only 22 days left to complete the U.S. Census! You may have already completed this back in April, and that's a good thing – considering how messy the current census counting situation is right now. In case you missed the news, Renée is giving us the overview in today's newsletter. Learn why the extension is necessary for ensuring fair representation of everyone – especially those most marginalized.
And do your part to rally your friends, family and colleagues to take the census! The next best time to complete the census is now.
Thank you all for your contributions. To support our work, you can give one-time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe for $5/mo on our Patreon.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Complete the census! You can do it online, on the phone or via mail: 2020census.gov
Create time and space at your (IRL or virtual) office for your team to complete the census.
View where your state ranks on the 2020 Census Response Rates. Then, research specific ways you can help your state / city count – whether by joining text / phone banking initiatives, or spreading the word in your neighborhood.
GET EDUCATED
By Renée Cherez
Beginning in 1790, the United States Census has been part of the country’s constitutional law. Every ten years, every person in America is counted for two main reasons: distributing funds and properly revealing representation. Census findings not only affect the funds and resources allocated to communities, but it also determines the number of seats each state in Congress holds as well as the drawing of congressional and state legislative districts (Census.gov).
On August 3rd, the Census Bureau announced that field data collection would end on September 30th, a full month before the Trump administration’s extended October 31st deadline. (CNN) In an internal document released last week by the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee, Census Bureau officials warned the Trump administration that compressing the Census data timeline would “eliminate activities that will reduce accuracy” (CNN).
Also mentioned in the Powerpoint-styled report is any modifications made to the review process would eliminate or reduce steps designed to ensure the exactness of data before it is made public (Census.gov). With a shortened timeline, there won’t be time to review data that may be skewed in a practical matter before presenting it to the president on December 31st.
A U.S. judge was able to temporarily halt this movement last Saturday, an issue that will remain in effect until Sept. 17 when she will hold a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the municipalities and advocacy groups (Reuters). This move buys the census some “precious and indispensable time” to gather more data (NPR). And this adjustment is critical; a miscount threatens the accuracy of the numbers used for reapportioning seats in Congress and the annual distribution of $1.5 trillion for federal funding of public services (NPR).
The Trump administration’s decision to expedite the census timeline during an election year and pandemic cannot be overlooked. Because the census determines the allocation of seats in Congress, there is undoubtedly a push to receive incomplete data to ensure seats are held by those who don’t have marginalized communities’ best interests over the next decade (New York Mag).
It’s also not the first time the Trump administration has tried to manage the census in a way that sways to their political agenda. In 2019, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, insisted on a citizenship question added to this year’s census (NPR). With Trump’s xenophobic history towards immigrants on full display over the last five years, the Supreme Court blocked the citizenship question from the 2020 census (CNN).
A miscount or no count at all is disastrous for not only Black and Brown communities but also immigrant communities and those experiencing homelessness. Historically, Black and immigrant communities have been undercounted or not counted at all in the census. In 1940, the Census Bureau missed 1 in 12 Black residents (The Guardian). In the 2010 census, 2.1% of African Americans were not counted, including 6% of African American children (Forbes).
Also undercounted: 1.5% of Hispanics and 5% of Indigenous people living on reservations while the white-non Latino population was overcounted by almost 1% (CBS). A 2019 report by the Urban Institute estimates that between 1.1 million and 1.7 million Black residents will be missed in 2020’s census (Urban Institute). However, because of the ongoing pandemic and upending to daily life because of it, years of mistrust of the federal government, the numbers could be far higher.
Racial inequality in national statistics is not new. It has cost the Black community millions of dollars that could have been used for education, mental health services, clinics, businesses, and public programs like Medicaid. An example of this is the disproportionate incarceration rate of Black men.
Black men are incarcerated five times higher than white people, and when the census traces, it documents that Black men are part of the prison population. This inflates the population count and divests funds from Black communities, where incarcerated Black men will eventually return (Forbes). Like the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, who successfully sued the administration over its citizenship question, advocacy groups have voiced their concerns about the new census deadline:
"This new deadline allows Trump to cheat hard-to-count communities of color out of the resources needed for everything from health care and education to housing and transportation for the next 10 years" (CNN).
Like door-knocking, field operations are critical in undercounted communities and counting populations that are most vulnerable like the unhoused. Black people in America only make up 13% of the population, yet, 42% of the unhoused population is Black. The numbers are even higher among Black people experiencing homelessness with children at 52% (ABCNews).
With the deadline fast approaching, Census field agents are now pushing to get into the rural communities that don’t have internet or telephones access. Virtual phone banks organized by advocacy groups are scheduled for September 9th in Chicago, where only 40% of households have completed the census (ABC7). On the opposite end, fieldwork will end in San Diego, a city with a large Hispanic population, which will end on September 18th, twelve days earlier than the official deadline (KTLA).
Almost 230 years later, to the first enumeration, the 2020 Census may be the most critical of our generation as we face down a public health crisis, racial uprisings, an economic crisis, and a federal government steeped in fascism. We must do everything in our power to ensure BIPOC people are counted in this census. If we don’t, these communities stand to lose more than they already have over the last six months of this pandemic and four years of this administration.
key takeaways
The last day to complete the U.S. Census is September 30th.
Black communities are historically undercounted in the Census, leading to millions of dollars lost for valuable resources.
In the 2010 Census, 1.5 million Black and Hispanic people went uncounted.
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