Blimey, they don't ask for a lot of detail and still, talk radio thinks its an imposition. And why am I getting robocalls to write in that I'm diabetic? Is that a race? Where do I say I'm a Jedi?
suzy, I'm here for the purposes of the census.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
you should include a narrative portion about your race/ethnicity
― figgy pudding (La Lechera), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
true story on my form underneath the part where it says "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION" i wrote in "NO, THANK YOU"
― iiiijjjj, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
there should really be more races to select
― harbl, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
why give so much primacy (a separate box) to guamanians or samoans, but nothing to mixed race with no latino? dumb. i just want to know how that happened.
― figgy pudding (La Lechera), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:40 (3 years ago) Permalink
what about germans, irish, greeks, italians, dutch, spaniards
― harbl, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:42 (3 years ago) Permalink
swedes, norges, croats
Because Guam and US Samoa are territories? Seriously would not be for any other reason. xpost
― ned ragú (suzy), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:42 (3 years ago) Permalink
What I don't understand is there is no box for immigration status. I have to fill in the form but I'm not eligible to vote, so if enough people like me fill in a form (and there are many foreign students in Pittsburgh) does pittsburgh get extra representation?
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
yes indeed, isn't that weird?
― harbl, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
maybe they figure that the foreign student population is relatively stable even if the actual students are different people? i also can't imagine there are tens of thousands of foreign students?
― figgy pudding (La Lechera), Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:46 (3 years ago) Permalink
like foreign students, children can't vote but their interests are still represented based on the census because they live there
― iiiijjjj, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:48 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hooray proving you exist!
― kenan, Thursday, 18 March 2010 00:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
I had a quick look at the website but couldn't find any obvious boldface size 72 information, so anybody know what overseas americans should do? I can't fill it out online, do I need to drop by the embassy?
― I request "Fireflies" (dyao), Thursday, 18 March 2010 01:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
;_;
WASHINGTON -- Utah Rep. Jim Matheson is pressing to end the Census Bureau's policy of excluding Americans overseas in its once-a-decade headcount.
really wanted to enable history and schools sorry dudes
Thank God for Utah, though.
― kenan, Thursday, 18 March 2010 01:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
Inspired by a friend's FB status: how many or you women who live with one or more dudes listed yourself as person one on the census form? *raises hand*
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Thursday, 18 March 2010 01:56 (3 years ago) Permalink
And I totally did it on purpose as a political statement.
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Thursday, 18 March 2010 01:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
my roommate filled ours out while i was at work
received text "what is your ethnicity and your age? census"
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
hahahaha that guy
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
saddest part of the experience was that i didn't get to see the look on his face when he received text and found out i am hispanic
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
xp I hope you are now a 53 year old negro.
― kenan, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
after 10 months of struggling with his spanish homework... xp wow
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
this is a very hoos-oriented census, as it's designed to tell us if you're secretly hispanic
― figgy pudding (La Lechera), Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:31 (3 years ago) Permalink
real talk
― kenan, Thursday, 18 March 2010 02:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
Today at Goodwill I saw Census forms for people to be counted who do not have an address.
― MC Short Shorts (Nijoli), Thursday, 18 March 2010 19:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
I think the "live/stay" language is because they want to count people who may be staying somewhere on a temporary basis and won't otherwise be counted.
i think this is because the census is worried that if the significant population of americans who are latino/hispanic aren't given an option to list that as their ethnicity, they might get tripped up and choose white.
Wait, but most Latinos *should* be choosing white as their race, right? (Unless they're not, of course -- e.g., many Dominicans, Panamanians, etc.).
The thing that I found most interesting was that "Asian" was not an option for race, but specific Asian nationalities (like Indian, Chinese, etc.) were. I guess it makes sense why the Census would want to break that down, especially since the term "Asian" in the U.S. tends to connote East Asian and so you might have a Pakistani-American who gets confused and decides that they're not actually Asian. But there's a weird implication there that "Chinese" or "Japanese" is a race instead of a nationality or ethnicity, which probably only makes things more confusing for some people. Like, I can imagine a Mexican-American looking at this and thinking "if Chinese is a race, then Mexican is a race" and checking the "Some other race" box.
― jam master (jaymc), Thursday, 18 March 2010 20:30 (3 years ago) Permalink
I listed myself as Person 1 only because I'm way more excited about the census than Kr is.
― jam master (jaymc), Thursday, 18 March 2010 20:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
This is what I look like holding my 'person no. 1' status.
― demonic splendor, demonic majesty (Abbott), Thursday, 18 March 2010 20:47 (3 years ago) Permalink
You look super fly.
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Thursday, 18 March 2010 20:51 (3 years ago) Permalink
go get you some benefits girl
― f. huey gray (tremendoid), Thursday, 18 March 2010 21:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
i don't know why i am paranoid about this, but filled it nonethelessmailing it tomorrow
― Walter Pate On 'sweetness' (jdchurchill), Sunday, 21 March 2010 18:35 (3 years ago) Permalink
I had a twinge of paranoia, too, but then realized that the US gov't already knows my name, address, birthday, and lots more stuff just by virtue of my being a tax paying citizen. Not to mention all the info they have based on the fact that I'm legally married and a licensed attorney and government employee. Comparatively, the census is about as invasive as asking me if I habitually breathe oxygen.
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Sunday, 21 March 2010 18:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
people - govt or otherwise - would easily know more about us from reading ilx than they would from our completed census forms
― figgy pudding (La Lechera), Sunday, 21 March 2010 19:11 (3 years ago) Permalink
I have an irrationally negative angry reaction to people who question the census.
I mean, just fill out the fucking form and send it back. I may be naive, but I am assuming that the government has better things to do than freak out about me. Anyway, I think all of the information I disclosed in my census form is on my facebook page.
― t0dd swiss, Sunday, 21 March 2010 20:10 (3 years ago) Permalink
well jaymc how do you define race?
― 丫 power (dyao), Monday, 22 March 2010 00:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
aren't most latinos (black and non-black) also some type of "amerindian"? if i was latina i wouldn't want to pick white unless i knew i was all spanish. they certainly aren't treated as a "white" category at the moment. but yeah then it gets messy because it really does depend what race means.
― harbl, Monday, 22 March 2010 01:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
i can't look at the special latino question though because i sealed my envelope to mail out tomorrow
― harbl, Monday, 22 March 2010 01:18 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hey you can track the return rates!http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/
― jam master (jaymc), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 19:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
The upper Midwest is shaming us all.
― jam master (jaymc), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 19:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
Florida, get your act together.
― jam master (jaymc), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 19:59 (3 years ago) Permalink
filling out forms is one of the central tenets of lutheranism
― goole, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 20:04 (3 years ago) Permalink
hey will somebody take a moment and copy the questions to this thread so we all can scrutinize them once again, plz?
i was in a conversation with a coworker and really wished there was a place where i could go and look at the exact wording of the questions . . .
― Walter Pate On 'sweetness' (jdchurchill), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 20:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
oh nevermind i found them at
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php
― Walter Pate On 'sweetness' (jdchurchill), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 20:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
hmm in the explanation for the part where they ask yr name it's all 'federal law protects the confidentiality . . ."then in the explanation for the sex question it's all 'also sociologists, economists and other researchers analyze . . ."
is that a contradiction?
― Walter Pate On 'sweetness' (jdchurchill), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 20:30 (3 years ago) Permalink
not really..........it's still confidential if they don't give out identifying info
― harbl, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 20:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
filled this out today. was kind of looking forward to a long questionnaire, but it was like four questions and peace out. honestly, i'm disappointed.
― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 23:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
i just want future generations of genealogy researchers to know my eating and moviegoing habits. i guess for that they'll have to check ILX.
http://contexts.org/socimages/2010/03/29/the-census-and-the-social-construction-of-race
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Monday, 29 March 2010 17:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
http://contexts.org/socimages/2010/03/29/race-and-censuses-from-around-the-world
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Monday, 29 March 2010 17:55 (3 years ago) Permalink