After more than 100 years of counting Americans, the U.S. may finally have a permanent Census Bureau Director that is a person of color. Yesterday, Robert Santos, who is Mexican-American, sat before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as the first person of color to be nominated as Census Bureau Director. 

Not only is this a historic day for our nation, and representative government, but having a person of color leading the nation’s top statistical agency is significant on many levels. 

Sa kabila ng aming lumalaking bilang, ang mga komunidad ng kulay at mga komunidad ng imigrante ay patuloy na kulang sa bilang sa census. Ibig sabihin, madalas tayong nawawalan ng kapangyarihan at impluwensyang pampulitika, at pagpopondo ng komunidad para sa mga ospital, bagong paaralan, at pagkukumpuni ng kalsada. Noong nakaraang dekada, nakita namin ang mga makabuluhang undercount sa census sa kabila ng itinuturing na pinakatumpak na census sa kasaysayan. Hindi nakuha ang census noong 2010  2.1 percent of black people and 1.5 percent of Hispanics —  accounting for about 1.5 million people not counted. This most recent census will likely see similar reports, (when the Census Bureau delivers the results of its post-enumeration survey) given the COVID-19 pandemics and deliberate efforts by the Trump Administration na huwag magbilang ng mga komunidad ng kulay. 

The Census is critical to helping our communities, businesses, and people across the nation to ensure that they have the information and resources they need to thrive. Article One, Section Two of the Constitution legally obligates Congress to conduct a regular na census para bigyang kapangyarihan all Americans — not just those that can afford to be counted.  But since the first census in 1790, the decennial census has been plagued by political influence. We did not count Native Americans until 1900 and our nation’s original sin, the fractionalizing of enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person, just enough to placate Southern states’ concerns about disproportionate Northern power in the new Congress, but not enough to consider them whole persons. That mathematical compromise at our founding continues to plague us through as the same white supremacist thinking shows up as overt attempts by the previous administration to whitewash ang census at bilangin lamang ang mga mamamayan ng edad ng pagboto. Nakapagtataka ba sa isang kasaysayan na minamaltrato, minamaliit, o ganap na binabawasan ang sangkatauhan ng mga komunidad na may kulay, na marami sa mga nakatira sa mga komunidad na ito ang naghihinala sa pamahalaan, kaya nangangailangan ng dagdag na pagsisikap upang matulungan silang maging komportable na mabilang sa census? 

But Every American deserves to have their voice heard and to be counted in selecting the people and policies that will determine the future of our families. That starts with a fair and reliable census. In order for our vote to be truly counted accurately, we need fair districts, which require an accurate and fair census count. Reliable census data is essential to creating districts where everyone is counted equally. During Mr. Santos’ opening remarks, he described his Mexican-American heritage and his family’s struggle towards the American dream. We can only hope that a Census Bureau Director from the fastest growing and most undercounted communities and his long career in statistical methodologies, will help set policies that will assist in ensuring that Latinx communities and all communities of color are fully represented in this decade’s census count and everyone moving forward in a democracy that finally works for all of us.