The U.S. Census and Our Sense of Us

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2017

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Census is so much more than cold, hard data. It's about what we call ourselves, the ways we see ourselves and how we're represented. On this episode we ask the former head of the Census bureau why he quit. We talk about how the Census helped create 'Hispanic' identity. And we talk through some of the proposed race and ethnicity categories that may show up on the 2020 questionnaire.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The U.S. Census is one of the most important data sets that we have.
0:05.8	Someone argue the most important is how we know what America looks like, our racial makeup,
0:10.7	who lives where, it affects everything from education to transportation.
0:15.3	And let's add one more huge thing that rhymes.
0:18.5	Political representation.
0:20.2	Bars.
0:20.8	Drop that beat.
0:22.2	The Census determines how voting districts get drawn, how many congressional representatives
0:29.5	we have, a sizable undercount of vulnerable populations like the poor and people of color
0:35.6	would mean they'd have even less of a political voice.
0:39.9	So the Census is not just about numbers, it's about power.
0:44.1	And that is why right now you are listening to Census Wash 2020.
0:47.3	AKA Code Switch, I'm Shereen Marysel Miraji.
0:51.3	And I'm Jean Demby and Shereen, I think it's fair to say that everyone on Code Switch
0:54.6	is lightweight, obsessed with the Census numbers, right?
0:57.3	Yes, we use the Bureau's race and ethnicity data all the time in our reporting.
1:01.6	So when we found out that the head of the Census, his name was John Thompson, was quitting,
1:06.0	he was stepping down in the middle of his agency's feverish preparations to count everyone
1:11.4	in the United States, you know, to the best of their ability.
1:14.1	We're like, yo, what is going on?
1:16.7	And we caught him right before he took his post-redsignation Hawaiian vacation.
1:21.1	I've never been to the big island, so I'm probably looking forward to it.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.