Once, every 10 years, the United States Census Bureau takes a snapshot ofAmerica through the Decennial Census.
The Decennial Census counts everyone, regardless of age, race, sex or citizenship status. You count for money, power and a better quality of life for yourself and your community.
Your answers to the Census are private, confidential, and protected by federal law. No court of law, no welfare or immigration agency, not even the FBI, can see what you say.
When you count, you bring more than $1600 a year in federal funding to North Carolina. If the Census misses you, or any other person in your household or your community, that is $16,000 per person over 10 years. That adds up to a lot of dollars left on the table for our communities for critical services such as childcare, Head Start / Early Start, school lunch vouchers, medicaid, medicare, SNAP, WIC, public housing vouchers and federal pell grants for college students.
When you count, your community has access to schools, healthcare facilities, grocery stores, bus/train service and parks for a better quality of life. Decision makers use Census data to determine placement of services and businesses.
When you count, your community is empowered. When black communities are undercounted, voting power weakens. Communities with larger populations have more power, and depending on the racial and economic makeup of that community – issues impacting the black community may be overlooked by elected officials, including state representatives, members of Congress, and federal judges.
Black populations continue to be undercounted in the Decennial Census, disadvantaging black families, communities, and neighborhoods.
The 2010 Census undercounted the black population by more than 800,000.
Approximately 7 percent of young black children were overlooked by the 2010 Census, roughly twice the rate for young non-Hispanic White children.
Black men have been historically undercounted in greater numbers than men of other racial or ethnic groups.