Got two mailings here at our lake house, where I stay when teaching at the college. I went online, and marked “not occupied, seasonal/occasional use”. But then it wanted to know where I would be April 1st, so I had to complete it for my normal address. I didn’t have my home code (it’s probably in the mailbox at my regular house), so it asked for the street address.
I marked “white” and it wouldn’t let me proceed. I simply typed a blank, which it accepted. In my web classes, we teach them the trim() function that removes leading and trailing spaces, so I was surprised that a blank worked.
I worked as a “catch-up” enumerator in 2010. It was an experience, and I always got the scary part of town. Most people were very nice, usually saying they forgot. There was one grouch who said it’s none of the government’s business to have his birth date, dammit - he was 78 years old and wasn’t going to tell me his birth day. Our training said all we needed was an age, so I was good with his answer.
The best response was a young mother, who answered “Cambodian” as her country of origin. Then her 14-year old daughter piped up, “I’m Cambodian - Norwegian”, so I wrote that down…
Correction: Census field work is suspended until April 1st, but you can still fill out your form online, or by phone. And if they mail you a paper form, you can fill that out and return it any time. The news report just means nobody will be knocking on your door until after April 1st.
I got my letter today and I completed my form. The only reason it took as long as it did (15 minutes), was I had to check some details with another person. Web form was totally easy and quick!
The really big expense is sending a person to an address so the residents can be counted. Compared to that, multiple mailers are loose change. Online is cheapest of all, which is why the Census is pushing folks to their web form.
Still going to say that when the Belgian Embassy shows up with free waffles for your neighbors?
I’m really wondering how hardass I’ll have to be on questions like this, when I’m trying to talk recalcitrants into filling out their forms?
I just heard on my local news that the initial deadline is now April 15th, and hiring for canvassers and other workers is being delayed due to you-know-what.
Considering most of the complaints are on the “what type of white are you?” question, why is the Census bothering with the question? It’s not like there’s a program for Norwegian-Americans or anything, and most whites these days have pretty diverse ethnic backrounds. Plus I’m amused that the Census insists Hispanic is not a race when almost all other government forms do. Understand, I am a huge fan of the census and filling it out. I just wonder about the thoughts behind these questions.
I was hired pre-lockdown. We’re on hold until April 15th (for now) but still being paid for 19 hours a week. Why? Hey, I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Because the Trump administration insisted on it.
The Census experts wanted to combine these 2 questions into 1, but Trump wouldn’t allow it. Possibly they see some way to discourage participation/undercount minorities this way. Or even just because Obama appointees had recommended approval of that recommendation from the experts.
It sounds like that’s going to be one of the most frequently unanswered/mis-answered question this Census. But that just means the data from this is less reliable; it’s not a major part of the Census enumeration. And that poor data is probably a realistic reflection of the population; many ‘white’ people don’t accurately know their ancestry. (Many of us know people who were surprised, even shocked, by the results of those cheap DNA ancestry tests.)
My family came to the US from Ireland. So, naturally, I always thought I was part Irish. My mother told me last month that we’re not Irish at all. The family left England for Ireland, and then on to Canada. We’re part English.
But I’m also 1/2 Jewish, from two different areas in Europe. And probably a few other things. So, I’m comfortable with my “unsure” answer.