A census we will go

I finished up census training this week. Yesterday afternoon we went out to do interviews (we write the answers down that they give us) for a couple of hours. We have to read the questions verbatim (exactly as they are written). We have to ask if they and everyone in the house is male or female. I know kinda stupid, but the Quality Control people call a certain percentage of those we interview (we ask for their phone number), and ask them if we asked certain questions.

I got one interview yesterday. Today we finished up our training, did our test, then went out for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I got 3 interviews, then I locked my keys in my car! I had just gotten an interview at the house next door, and I went there to use her phone (mine was in my car too). I let my supervisor know, and then called the police dept. to see if they would open my car door. Some police departments will do that. They said no. The woman whose phone I was using said her fiance was going to come home soon and he could probably do it. So we talked until her guy got home. It was past time we had to quit, we couldn't get more than 8 hours today, so I just went home. They were really nice, and had a cute little dog.

I am enjoying doing the census. A lot of the people weren't home. The ones that were home answered the questions and were really nice. They even gave their phone numbers. So we'll see how the rest goes and how much work there is.

Not sure if I will be able to work tomorrow, my car is on empty. Someone hit my car in a parking lot a few weeks ago. They were going to give me a check today, they didn't want to go through their insurance company. I went to pick it up (the guy's son hit my car and left a note, I wasn't in the car). The guy looked at my car, and told me his son's car couldn't have hit my car there. So I went all the way there for nothing. I don't know if his son's car really hit it there or not. I thought it had. So no money for gas to work. I may not be able to go visit my son on Sunday either. My damn car cost over $400 to fix on Monday, and I still owe them a bit too.

More work for the census next month!

I got a call today from the census. I'm going to be working again in late April. It's 4 days of training. They said it would last 3-5 weeks. We may even get overtime. Anisah

"Check it Right: You Ain't White"-Arabs in the Census

My sister sent me a link to this a few days ago, and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. A group is trying to get Arabs in the US not to check "white" as their race in the 2010 census.

from a blog post by Jillian C. York. A snippet from the blog:



An awful slogan for an extremely interesting campaign. The “Yalla! Count” campaign, whose slogan is the above, aims to encourage Arabs to write in “Arab” as their race on the upcoming 2010 census instead of checking the “White” box. The campaign picked up traction this week when Newsweek published a feature article referencing the campaign and its background...

It links to a Newsweek article about it.

Ten years ago, when Sarah Kazem's dad filled out the U.S. Census form for the household, he racially identified his family of Egyptian descent as "white" when he answered the question on race. But this time around, Kazem, a 22-year-old Michigan resident, is going to make sure her dad marks "Some Other Race" and write in "Arab" instead.
"Why are we marking white when we're Arab?" she asks. But that is how the Census counts Arabs. After 20th-century Syrian immigrants won citizenship as "whites," Uncle Sam applied the label to all Arabs. To change that, a California-based group of Arab-American leaders formed the Arab Complete Count Committee and launched a campaign dubbed "Check It Right, You Ain’t White." The campaign—which has been circulated nationally through the Web—is an attempt to get people of Arab origin to write in their true ancestry... If the campaign is successful, experts say the official Arab-American population could swell from an estimated 1.2 million people to more than 4 million—a leap that could help the group coalesce into a distinct and formidable political block.
The problem: many Arabs, fearful of terrorism-related witch hunts, are reluctant to fill out the census form at all, much less self-identify unnecessarily as Arabs. "There's fear of profiling, especially heightened after 9/11," says Masry, who is an Irvine, Calif., city planner of Lebanese and Saudi descent. "So what we try to do is educate Arabs that, by law, the information they provide can't be shared." (The Census Act prohibits the disclosure of individually identifiable information.)...

After I read that, it got me to thinking about my children. My teenagers are half Egyptian, my younger one is half Palestinian. Should all from Arab countries just put Arab? What about those who speak Arabic but aren't considered Arab (like Sudan). Maybe they should have a place to check Multi Racial and spaces for someone to put their races. Someone on a message board suggested everyone just put American when were talking about race in general. Obviously 'American' is not a race. But should all Arabs be grouped together?
Then of course there are those other than Arab. Even just among Muslims, what about the Turkish, Persian (from Iran), Kurdish, etc? I don't have to worry about this, since I'm a mixed mutt about-as-light-as-you-can-get American. I think everyone should be able to put down what they feel is their race, whether Arab, Egyptian, Persian, etc. Or maybe they can put an additional question on the census and ask about ethnicity, which is really what the campaign is about.

Census questions revealed!

I worked for the census last year and this year for about a week, but I was not able to see the forms. This is from the Governments' census site. Interactive form here (you can't fill it out online).
I put a few comments in, they are underlined. My next post is about to be about a blog talking about Arabs and them not putting "white" as their race.

The only information that is legally required is how many people are living at your residence. Anything you don't feel comfortable telling, then say so.

How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?

We ask this question to help get an accurate count of the number of people in the household on Census Day, April 1, 2010. The answer should be based on the guidelines in the 'Start here' section. We use the information to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.

Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?

Asked since 1880. We ask this question to help identify people who may have been excluded in the count provided in Question 1. We use the information to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.

Is this house, apartment, or mobile home: owned with mortgage, owned without mortgage, rented, occupied without rent?.

Asked since 1890. Homeownership rates serve as an indicator of the nation's economy. The data are also used to administer housing programs and to inform planning decisions.

What is your telephone number?

We ask for a phone number in case we need to contact a respondent when a form is returned with incomplete or missing information.

Please provide information for each person living here. Start with a person here who owns or rents this house, apartment, or mobile home. If the owner or renter lives somewhere else, start with any adult living here. This will be Person 1. What is Person 1's name?

Listing the name of each person in the household helps the respondent to include all members, particularly in large households where a respondent may forget who was counted and who was not. Also, names are needed if additional information about an individual must be obtained to complete the census form. Federal law protects the confidentiality of personal information, including names.
~ Before 1850, only the name of the head of household was listed by name. Others in the household were listed by age range, gender, and race (most had the options of just white and black, some census had 'mulatto' (meaning mixed with black). ~

What is Person 1's sex?

Asked since 1790. Census data about sex are important because many federal programs must differentiate between males and females for funding, implementing and evaluating their programs. For instance, laws promoting equal employment opportunity for women require census data on sex. Also, sociologists, economists, and other researchers who analyze social and economic trends use the data.

What is Person 1's age and Date of Birth?

Asked since 1800. Federal, state, and local governments need data about age to interpret most social and economic characteristics, such as forecasting the number of people eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits. The data are widely used in planning and evaluating government programs and policies that provide funds or services for children, working-age adults, women of childbearing age, or the older population.

Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?

Asked since 1970. The data collected in this question are needed by federal agencies to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination provisions, such as under the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State and local governments may use the data to help plan and administer bilingual programs for people of Hispanic origin.

What is Person 1's race?

Asked since 1790. Race is key to implementing many federal laws and is needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State governments use the data to determine congressional, state and local voting districts. Race data are also used to assess fairness of employment practices, to monitor racial disparities in characteristics such as health and education and to plan and obtain funds for public services. ~ There is a blank if you want to put another race. ~

Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?

This is another question we ask in order to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.