The US Census is so much more than data.

It's about what we call ourselves, how we see ourselves, and how we're represented.

Some people would argue that the census is the most important data set in American life

because it affects everything from education to transportation.

And let's add one more huge thing that rhymes, political representation.

It determines how voting districts get drawn and how many congressional representatives you

have.

And undercount of vulnerable populations, people like recent immigrants, poor people, people

of color, that would mean that they'd have even less of a voice.

It also means that hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding wouldn't be distributed

fairly.

The census is not just about numbers, it's about power.

You're listening to Code Switch, I'm Shireen Marisol Maraji, and I'm Jean Demby.

And if you think you're having deja vu, like you've heard this spiel before on the show,

well, you kind of have.

And you'll probably hear it a few more times leading up to the big 2020 Census count because

this is a big deal.

That's a big deal.

So we've got some census updates for you all in this episode.

There have been a couple changes to the race and ethnicity question.

We'll talk about those.

We're also going to talk about the controversial citizenship question that was recently added

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