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Taking Another Look at the 2020 Census: Talking with Henrietta

What Color is Justice?

    Screen shot from the Palo Alto Online Virtual Town Hall Forum on 

Race, Policing and the Color of Justice, June 25, 2020.

The murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers on May 25, 2020 led to massive protests in our country and around the world. It has also led to multiple discussions about the social injustices that exist today, which started centuries ago.

I had the opportunity to participate in the Palo Alto Online Virtual Town Hall Forum on Race, Policing and the Color of Justice, which took place over Zoom on Thursday, June 25, 2020.

If you missed it you can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6ddHFLbxO4&feature=youtu.be

At least 500 people registered to see it. Three hundred of them participated online and others saw it when it was live streamed over the Palo Alto Week’s Facebook page.

All credit goes to the Embarcadero Publishing Company, the publishers of the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac and the Mountain View Voice for putting this forum together. Much credit also goes to the panelists and the audience members who participated.

No doubt, there will be many discussions like this one that will take place all across our country and in other countries as well, as people tackle some of the hard issues that involve power, social equity, justice, the social determinants of health and related concerns.

All of the talk will be meaningful if it leads to solutions that can be enacted to improve lives. This doesn’t mean making improvements for some, but making improvements for everyone across the board.

Improving the structural systems on which our country is based and applying the principles on which our country was founded to cover everyone is a laudable goal.  But, let there be no misunderstanding the fact that it is a goal that will take all of the best ideas and actions, which we can muster to fulfill.

Getting a Seat at the Table

For years, members of minority groups in America were given the crumbs that fell from the table and they rightly complained that they were underrepresented in the halls of power and excluded from having a seat at the table.

Census 2020 supporters are urging everyone to participate in the census and let their voices count.

Newly released Census 2020 data shows that as of April 24, 2020, San Mateo County, with a self-response rate of 62.9%, ranks as the number one county in California, in having the most residents who have submitted their Census 2020 questionnaire. Even California’s statewide response rate is 54.2%

Two San Mateo County cities, Hillsborough and San Carlos, both with a response rate of 72.1%, rank among the top 10 cities with the highest response rates.

Guess which cities in the state have the lowest response rates. If you guessed that East Palo Alto is among them, then you’re right. East Palo Alto has a response rate of 47.1%

The city ranks just under Compton at 47.6% under Watsonville at 49.3 and under Bell, which has a response rate of 45%.

East Palo Alto also ranks under southern states like Alabama (51.1%) Georgia (49.6), Mississippi (49.4) and Florida (50.8%), which all fall under the national response rate that is 52.8%. See more rankings at https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html

If the residents of East Palo Alto want to have a seat at the table, then they will have to participate where their voices can be heard, whenever the opportunity arises. Participating in Census 2020 is one of those opportunities. If people feel that as a group they are pushed aside by the system and treated as if they don’t count, then it is critical that they step up, present themselves, demand their seat and pull back the chair at the table. Census 2020 allows everyone to present themselves and demand a seat

Doesn’t it make sense, then, for all of us to respond to the census as quickly as possible? In being counted and in allowing ourselves to be seen and heard, we can demand our fair representation in the halls of  power and get the seats to which we are entitled. In being counted, our communities will get the money that they deserve.

So, submit your Census 2020 response now, if you haven’t already done so. East Palo Alto can be among the cities with the highest Census 2020 response rates and you can help make that happen.

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