This article examines Census 2020 relative to civil rights and social equity. Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the Census is directly related to civil rights as Census totals are used to determine voting representation, and results impact billions of dollars of federal, state, and local funding across multiple areas including education, health care, and housing. Census undercounts impact marginalized communities, and this is a heightened concern for Census 2020 along two core social equity dimensions: (1) race and ethnicity, and (2) immigration and citizenship. The implementation of Census 2020 is the responsibility of public administrators and poses challenges in the areas of social equity, leadership, and administrative infrastructure. Practitioner Points • Census 2020 matters. Data from the U.S. Census is fundamental to apportioning political power as well as more than $800 billion each year for governmental services. • In each state, population totals will determine the House of Representative seats. Every state will use population totals to redraw legislative districts, allocate resources, and provide public services. • Racial categories and undercounts have been fundamental concerns since the first U.S. Census in 1790. These undercounts pose ongoing challenges to political participation, representation, and resources. • The citizenship question controversy of Census 2020 will likely lead to lower completion levels for noncitizens. • Implementation of Census 2020 is the responsibility of public administrators, and there are important challenges relative to civil rights and social equity. The U.S. Census: Historical Context S ince its constitutional inception in 1787, there have been significant political and social consequences of the U.S. Census. While the word "census" provokes thoughts of a straightforward and objective numerical population count, Census implications are broad, complex, nuanced, and critical. Notably, "the appearance of political noninvolvement is crucially important to the legitimacy of census bureaus and censuses" (Nobles 2000, 5). From a political perspective, "… The United States became the first nation in the history of the world to take a population census and use it to allocate seats in a national assembly according to the population" (Anderson 2010, 154). Following the 1910 Census, Congress fixed the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives at 435, where it remains today. As Billard (2000) explained, this immediately cultivated winners and losers relative to political power. "It was now a zerosum game, and since politicians typically are loath to give up power, the stage was set for potential battles in the future" (767). These political battles are not randomly distributed; rather they follow historical patterns relative to racial inequities. Race, Civil Rights, and the U.S. Census Race has been a fundamental part of the U.S. Census since its inception. These inequities were so important that they were specified in the U.S. Constitution, with slaves counting as mere...
