# For the love of your country, fill out your census form! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713 "2010-03-17T00:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/41 "2010-03-17T04:53:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@statsman1982](#): > > > > Goddammit to hell, what the fuck is wrong with people who think that filling out the census is leading us down the primrose path to a socialistic, totalitarian Obamanazi regime, complete with black helicopters and concentration camps for Whitey? > > Hm. News to me **anybody** thinks that. The only RW ranting I’ve heard about the Census in the past year is based on the meme that ACORN will run it and the inner-city populations will be inflated. I was sifting through the comments on an article about the census in the local rag, and caught one (by a frequent flier who calls him/her/itself “tubbythetuba” and whose avatar looks like someone who recently OD’d on a mixture of Ex-Lax and prune juice) observing that those who filled out their census forms were “sheeple” who would probably take Hitler up on the offer of a train ride followed by a relaxing shower. And his/her/its reaction was scarcely unique, just more emphatic than most. So given that such attitudes exist here in the SoW, I can easily imagine that the atmosphere in **statsman1982** ’s neck of the woods is even more poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/42 "2010-03-17T05:00:52Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > That’s beautiful. > > What, is everything that somebody doesn’t like now “unconstitutional?” > > Health care reform? Unconstitutional! > > Gay marriage? Unconstitutional! > > Digital television? Unconstitutional! > > Spinach? Unconstitutional! At the risk of editorializing, these Tea Baggers are guilty, and must be dealt with in a harsh and brutal fashion. Otherwise, their behavior could incite other Birthers leading to anarchy of biblical proportions. It’s in “Revelations”, people! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/43 "2010-03-17T05:36:00Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Well, the headcount is in there. The rest of the crap isn’t. The actual sentence in the Constitution is: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” The Congress has directed that the census be more than a simple headcount, from the very first census in 1790, when the people who wrote the Constitution were still around. It is totally a myth that the Constitution insists on nothing more than a headcount. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/44 "2010-03-17T05:51:43Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > I live in West Texas, and to listen to people talking about the apparently onerous and odious task of filling out a 10-minute form asking basic demographic questions would make one think it’s just as egregious an affront to their sense of propriety as someone asking to pork their 12-year-old daughter. It’s fucking mind-blowing. Except skipping pass the ethnicity question I finished the whole thing. I see no reason why the U.S should inquire on what ethnicity I am but won’t ask whether I’m a U.S citizen. That, to me, is mind-blowing. I’m also amused that hispanic is now distinct from white (Did I miss the memo on that one?). Aren’t hispanics just Europeans from Spain? In any case, the Census should represent a show of hands in a household without regard to skin color. The Census has become a data mining experiment that’s outside the scope of what the Founders originally intended. Just my opinion. - Honesty ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/45 "2010-03-17T06:32:10Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > Aren’t hispanics just Europeans from Spain? In any case, the Census should represent a show of hands in a household without regard to skin color. The Census has become a data mining experiment that’s outside the scope of what the Founders originally intended. Just my opinion. Europeans from Spain are called Spaniards, or Spanish. Hispanics are, for census purposes, Spanish-speaking people from the Americas, although awhile ago we had a big blow-up about whether or not Brazilians are Hispanics, and I’m not going to get into that. It’s important to figure this stuff out, including skin color. Yes, in an ideal world, skin color wouldn’t be a factor. Would that we all lived in such a place. Instead, we live in a world where people who are of certain ethnicities live in certain neighborhoods and have higher or lower incomes than other ethnicities. This is far from a data mining experiment. The government uses this information to try to correct for these inequalities (at least, in theory; it’s not like they do a perfect job, but without the data, they can’t even make an attempt). Census data is public information, and NGOs can also take action based on that. Have high school graduation rates among black males gone down in a city in the last ten years? Is the rise in Latina income half of that of white women? How can governmental and non-governmental agencies address that? What kinds of programs can be instituted to correct for this? Why is it happening? You need census data to figure this stuff out. And finally, did you miss the part where the census has ALWAYS asked these sorts of questions, including the very first time around, in 1790, when the Founders were still alive and kicking? Where are you getting your information that this wasn’t what they intended? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/46 "2010-03-17T06:47:09Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It is totally a myth that the Constitution insists on nothing more than a headcount. I never said that the Constitution says there can be nothing but a headcount, just that the headcount is the only part of the census that is in the Constitution. The rest, as I said, is just crap tacked on. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/47 "2010-03-17T07:29:53Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Yep. Census porn. _doorbell rings. Half-naked woman answers_ Male Census Worker: Hello ma’am. I’m here to ask you ten questions. Half-naked Woman: Oh? I hope they’re not too… _personal_. Census Worker: Well, I do have to ask you if there are any people staying here temporarily that don’t otherwise live here. Are there any… guests in the house? Woman: Why no Mr. Census Worker. I’m completely alone. Why don’t you come inside for a moment. You must be tired working on your feet all day. Census Worker: I sure am. It’s hard work counting heads. Woman: Oh I’ll give you a head to count alright. _devilish grin_ _bow chika bow wow_ ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/48 "2010-03-17T07:43:14Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > _doorbell rings. Half-naked woman answers_ > > Male Census Worker: Hello ma’am. I’m here to ask you ten questions. > > Half-naked Woman: Oh? I hope they’re not too… _personal_. > > Census Worker: Well, I do have to ask you if there are any people staying here temporarily that don’t otherwise live here. Are there any… guests in the house? > > Woman: Why no Mr. Census Worker. I’m completely alone. Why don’t you come inside for a moment. You must be tired working on your feet all day. > > Census Worker: I sure am. It’s hard work counting heads. > > Woman: Oh I’ll give you a head to count alright. _devilish grin_ > > _bow chika bow wow_ Census Worker: I hope you don’t mind, but I brought the long form. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/49 "2010-03-17T07:45:44Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > I never said that the Constitution says there can be nothing but a headcount, just that the headcount is the only part of the census that is in the Constitution. The rest, as I said, is just crap tacked on. Tacked on, that is, by Congress, _at the explicit direction of the constitution._ Not sure how that legitimately gets characterized as “crap,” by the way. ---
**Author:** ![txobbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@txobbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txobbin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/50 "2010-03-17T07:58:51Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > The first form was probably the American Community Survey. This replaces the long form that was randomly sent out in 2000. The one you got yesterday is probably the same questionnaire that everyone is getting. It’s just ten questions and shouldn’t take longer than a commercial break to fill out. > > \ Short form filled out and will be mailed tomorrow. IIRC I filled out the long form in 2000. I don’t recall getting a short form afterwards. Does the ACS usually come before the short form? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/51 "2010-03-17T11:12:08Z")
> [@txobbin](#): > > Short form filled out and will be mailed tomorrow. IIRC I filled out the long form in 2000. I don’t recall getting a short form afterwards. Does the ACS usually come before the short form? The two surveys are separate. The American Community Survey is mailed out to 250,000 households every quarter, and it has nothing to do with the Decennial Census, which is what’s going on now. If you get both, you have to do both, but if you don’t get both, don’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/52 "2010-03-17T11:34:15Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > I never said that the Constitution says there can be nothing but a headcount, just that the headcount is the only part of the census that is in the Constitution. The rest, as I said, is just crap tacked on. Well, you have to have race on there so you can exclude the indians, and count black people as 3/5. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/53 "2010-03-17T11:42:01Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > Well, yours. And in discovering in general how many kids in the country are adopted or biological and so on, a more accurate knowledge of which might well end up helping your kids in the end. In all seriousness, I don’t see how. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/54 "2010-03-17T11:47:15Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Yes, in an ideal world, skin color wouldn’t be a factor. Would that we all lived in such a place. I took five tiny steps in that direction, by writing “H”, “U”, “M”, “A”, and “N” in the “Race: Other” block. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/55 "2010-03-17T11:50:14Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > Maybe I indulged in some slight (very slight) hyperbole. > > I will amend my original post to excuse reluctance (not outright refusal, though) of one group: Holocaust survivors. I don’t know if this is a myth or what, but I have heard that some survivors have been mistrustful of censuses, since presumably that is how the Nazis knew who had Jewish ancestry. My grandmother was a survivor–escaped off of a train to Auschwitz, she did–born of a Catholic father and Jewish mother. But I don’t know if her family was captured based on the census. Also, US Census data were used to facilitate the WWII Japanese-American internments. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/56 "2010-03-17T11:54:48Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Well, you have to have race on there so you can exclude the indians, and count black people as 3/5. I realize that you are being facetious, but there are laws that require compliance to ensure that blacks and other minorities aren’t being disenfranchised and that legislative districts aren’t being gerrymandered on the basis of race or ethnicity. Consequently, the Census has the authority and mandate to ask about race. Again, if this is so offensive to you, you don’t have to give your race, or you can list Wookiee or whatever cute response you want, but accurate data on race and ethnicity is important. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/57 "2010-03-17T12:35:52Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > But I confess - the race question _rankles_. I consider it entirely irrelevant, and was sorely tempted to fill in “giraffe.” Wrong board. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/58 "2010-03-17T12:40:36Z")
More seriously, I think **MsRobyn** ’s comment in post 56 is the simplest answer to the objections about being asked about race. One of the fundamental purposes of the census is to allocate seats in the House of Representatives fairly, based on the population. That includes as between the different states, but also within each state. Having sound information about the racial distribution within the state helps to ensure that the state’s seats are not being gerrymandered on the basis of race. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/59 "2010-03-17T13:14:38Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Europeans from Spain are called Spaniards, or Spanish. > > Hispanics are, for census purposes, Spanish-speaking people from the Americas, although awhile ago we had a big blow-up about whether or not Brazilians are Hispanics, and I’m not going to get into that. Being 1/4 Brazilian (my maternal grandfather came to the U.S. from Brazil as an adult), I’ve often wondered what the answer to that question is. I obviously don’t consider myself Hispanic in the least, and nobody who looked at me would, but I have aunts and cousins who got more of the Brazilian genes, and I wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/60 "2010-03-17T13:57:20Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Yep. Census porn. As above, I was tempted to make a joke or Rule 34 reference. Then I found this awesome site: [http://chartporn.org/](http://chartporn.org/) Between that and Graphjam, I may end up losing quite a bit of time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713.md?page=4)