January 13, 2010

This weekend, MPAC engaged members of the Islamic Center of Southern California during a workshop regarding the Census 2010. The Census will determine where $400 billion in federal funds will be allocated and how many Congressional seats will be assigned to each state.

The speakers included Rashad Al-Dabbagh, Partnership Specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau and Agar Perez with the Mexican American Legal Defense Education Fund. Each of the speakers shared the importance of Census 2010 and what is at stake for our communities. Al-Dabbagh explained that the Census does not inquire about religious beliefs or immigration status and all the information is confidential. Perez explained many members of her community often ask why they do not have nice parks, libraries, or various other facilities when they compare there landscape to a neighboring city. Agar responds with because those cities have more funding and they filled out their census forms.

Many of the questions from the audience were geared toward how to fill out the ethnicity portion of the form if a person's ethnicity is not represented on the form already. It is important if a community wants to be represented that they check the "Other" box and write in the ethnicity they feel most comfortable identifying with. For example, an individual may check the "Other" box and write in "Arab Jordanian" or check the "Other" box and write in "Pakistani."

It is important how each of us choose to fill out the form because once the Census 2010 is completed, each of us can ask our local congressional offices to request how many individuals marked "Other - Arab" or "Other - Pakistani" on the Census 2010 forms. This information will help each of our communities lobby for additional ethnicities to be added to the Census 2020 form. The Hawaiian community was successful in getting their ethnicity to be added to the new form as a result of their work during the last Census in 2000.

Please view the sample census form at www.2010.census.gov and be prepared to respond to the ethnicity portion of the form. For more questions and concerns please contact Census 2010 Coordinator, Saadia Khan.

- Saadia Khan (saadia@mpac.org)
Census 2010 Coordinator