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Readout: 2020 Census Media Roundtable for Communities of African Descent

Editor’s note: Video recording of this roundtable can be found here.

On Monday, February 3, 2020 in at the New York City Hall Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson hosted the “2020 Census Media Roundtable for Communities of African Descent.” The panel included several respected Black community, faith, and civil rights leaders from across the city: Lurie Daniel Favors, Esq., Interim Director, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College; Jennifer Jones Austin, Esq., CEO and Executive Director, FPWA; L. Joy Williams, President, Brooklyn NAACP; and Sheena Wright, Esq., President and CEO, United Way of New York City.

Julie Menin, Director, NYC Census 2020, and Kathleen Daniel, Field Director, NYC Census 2020, also joined the discussion.

The roundtable discussed the decennial census, which determines how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds are distributed every year for education, healthcare, housing, jobs,
infrastructure, and more, as well as each state’s fair share of representation in Congress (and at the local and state levels). The featured speakers also discussed the census’ problematic and shameful history with communities of African descent, from the ignoble “Three-Fifths” compromise, to its weaponization in the Jim Crow era, to today, when it significantly undercounts Black communities.

In 2010, New York City’s self-response rate to the census was just 61.9%, whereas the national average was 76%. In many neighborhoods with predominantly Black populations across the city, the response rates were even lower, falling in the 40-to-50-percent range. Monday’s discussion included an overview of New York City’s proactive response to this challenge, the $40 million NYC Complete Count Campaign, which has been jointly funded by Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson, and is New York City’s first-ever – and the nation’s largest -- municipal coordinated census campaign.

In 2010, New York City’s self-response rate to the census was just 61.9%, whereas the national average was 76%. In many neighborhoods with predominantly Black populations across the city, the response rates were even lower, falling in the 40-to-50-percent range. Monday’s discussion included an overview of New York City’s proactive response to this challenge, the $40 million NYC Complete Count Campaign, which has been jointly funded by Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson, and is New York City’s first-ever – and the nation’s largest -- municipal coordinated census campaign.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

How is New York City planning to help those with limited internet access help complete the census?

  • Background. For the first time, the Census will be conducted primarily online. This presents a barrier for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who lack regular access to high-speed internet at home. According to a report by the NYC Comptroller, internet disparities are pervasive throughout New York City. Across the five boroughs, 29% of households – 917,239 in total – lack broadband internet access. For those households, lack of internet access places an additional burden of time and energy in self-responding because those residents will either have to travel to a nearby assistance center or request a mail-in survey to complete the census.
  • Libraries. The city’s three library systems will utilize their physical presence throughout the city and their strong base of patrons to educate hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers about the census and assist them in completing the census at a library-based census assistance center. With an investment of $1.4 million by NYC Census 2020, 110 branches in historically undercounted areas will be fully equipped to deal with translations and materials in different languages, and will have dedicated staff and in-depth community partnerships to drive participation. These libraries will procure laptops and tablets that will be made available to community members to complete the census during the self-response period.
  • Pop-Up Centers Organized by Community-Based Organizations. With financial support from NYC Census 2020, libraries and Complete Count Fund awardees will be able to procure computers, tablets, and handheld devices that can be made available to help New Yorkers complete the census either at a pop-up center or in the course of their interaction with an outreach worker.
  • To maximize security of data provided in the course of completing the census, devices procured by the libraries will be programmed by the supplier to be restricted to the U.S. Census website and the NYC Census website. Community-based organizations receiving city funds to procure devices will be contractually obligated to maintain the highest security settings on any device being primarily used to help New Yorkers complete the census online
  • The libraries, and houses of worship will also host special programming around the Census and have special “Census Sundays” in several locations throughout the city.

What steps are we taking to make New Yorkers comfortable with filling out the census?

  • Trusted Messengers. Our plan recognizes that what we need to get to a complete and accurate count is strong and targeted messaging delivered by trusted voices in those communities where we need to boost the census self-response rate. Constituents place the highest trust in leaders within their own hyperlocal communities, as well as their own peers, family members, and neighbors. We will seek to deploy those trusted messengers throughout the campaign. In addition, our strategy will include deploying messengers who are seen as trusted messengers by specific communities, especially those in historically undercounted areas and those who face specific barriers to participation.
  • A Multilingual Targeted Advertising and Marketing Campaign. The City will invest $3 million in community and ethnic media advertising to ensure participation among the city's most historically undercounted communities. This figure represents the largest such investment by the City in local and community media for any campaign to date. The census campaign will be advertising in a minimum of 16 languages, including several languages spoken by New Yorkers with high levels of limited proficiency in English.
  • A multi-million dollar innovative, responsive, and multilingual advertising and marketing campaign will broadcast targeted messages via diverse media outlets, with a focus on multi-cultural media. Our media buy will come in two distinct, but complementary message deployments: an education and persuasion phase and a Get Out The Count phase.

What kind of questions are on the 2020 Census?

  • The 2020 Census will ask:
    • How many people are living or staying at your home
    • Their sex, age, race, and ethnicity
    • Whether your home is owned or rented
    • Your home address
  • The 2020 Census does NOT ask about your:
    • Immigration or citizenship status
    • Income
    • Social Security Number
  • Here is a sample of the bilingual paper questionnaire that will be used during the 2020 Census. This version excludes some features that will be made available to households starting in March 2020, such as the URL for online response and the contact information for phone response.

How will people know who is a US Census Bureau enumerator?

  • Census Bureau employees will have a valid ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date
  • The census will never ask for:
    • Social Security number
    • Bank account
    • Credit card
    • Money or donations
    • Mother’s maiden name
    • Political affiliation
  • Any official mailings will note that they are from the Census Bureau, with a return address in Jeffersonville, Indiana. If you suspect fraud, call 800-923-8282 to speak to a local Census Bureau representative and verify whether it is real. You can also email details to rumors@census.gov.
  • The Census Bureau begins its door-knocking Nonresponse Follow-Up Operation (NRFU) around mid-May, which will run through the end of July. During this period, census-takers, known as enumerators, will be knocking on doors of residences for which no response has been logged. We are dedicated to increasing self-response prior to the launch of the U.S. Census Bureau door-to-door enumeration. This strategy is grounded in the reality that self-response is historically more accurate than responses provided to Census Bureau enumerators.

Upcoming Events

NYC Census 2020 Day of Action: Teach-In Tuesday

On February 11th, Teach in Tuesday, NYC Census 2020 and our partners will be hosting dozens of teach-ins across the city where New Yorkers can learn about the 2020 Census. With locations all across the five boroughs, every New Yorker will be able to attend a local event.

Teach-ins will be hosted by NYC Census 2020, Complete Count Fund awardees, labor unions, city agencies, and elected officials. All of these partners will also spread the word about the teach-in to their lists and share on social media to encourage turnout in their communities.

Many of our partners have committed to providing space, giving a presentation, helping to crowd-build, or a combination of the above.NYC Census 2020 is providing presentation materials to each teach-in host and is hosting an in person training for presenters to ensure that every teach-in will be led by someone with the tools they need to deliver a comprehensive presentation.