The first time I saw the census was when I started to research my family history. As I child, I spent hours asking my maternal grandparents questions about their relatives and was rewarded with colorful stories about a great-grandmother who loved her pet chickens, a great-aunt who had moved to France briefly but insisted upon sending out Christmas cards in French for the rest of her life, and a great-grandfather who kept a boxing ring in his basement and challenged clients to boxing matches during lunch breaks.
On my father’s side of the family, though, because my grandparents and many of their siblings had passed before I was old enough to start asking questions, our family history was unclear and the only insight I was able to find was through the census.
It told a story of a family who came to the United States to get away from facism in their country. It showed names that in 1930 were all Italian but, by 1940, had become anglicized. For many years, that’s what the census meant to me: a chance to glimpse back into the past to find out something about my family.
Nothing changes your view of the census more, though, than serving in elected office and fighting for money for your district. That’s because over $675 billion in federal funding is distributed based on census results. States need to have balanced budgets so, particularly in a moment when there are enormous revenue shortfalls in Massachusetts, those federal dollars have never been so critical or needed.
Additionally, both federal and state legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years based on the census. A significant decline in population, or an undercount of our current population, could mean losing representation, as happened 10 years ago in Massachusetts when we went from 10 to nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
That means less power to advocate for the needs of our state. With all individualized data on the census kept secret and protected for 72 years, the current census will someday show future generations who we were but, for now, it will be our roadmap for the next 10 years.
The United States was the first country in modern history to establish a census, and we so believed in the need for the census that it was enshrined in our Constitution — Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, to be exact. Why? Because the United States wanted to find a way to allocate power that was based on data. In 1790, we, as a nation, affirmed our belief in science (may we do so again in the era of COVID), and we decided that our political representation and reapportionment would be decided by facts and figures, not through war and bloodshed.
It was a bold statement, and we have always respected this obligation we set forth for our nation. There was a census in 1860 in the leadup to the Civil War. There was a census immediately following World War I and then again right before World War II. Now, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, the United States has — masked, socially distanced and with hand sanitizer at the ready — risen to the challenge and is in the midst of conducting the census.
Many of you have already filled out the census. Currently, Hampshire County has a response rate of 73.6%. Northampton is at 72.3%, Hatfield at 75.4%, Westhampton at 77.3%, Montgomery at 79.5% and Southampton at 83.2%. With the census operations ending on Sept. 30, though, there is still time to reach a complete count. You can fill out your census online by visiting: my2020census.gov.
That’s what we did in my house and, I promise, it takes less than five minutes. Otherwise, enumerators have been hired who are going door-to-door from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to collect data. They will have a badge and identify themselves as census employees.
Right now, people may be hesitant to answer their doors, but if an enumerator stops by, please answer and speak through the door or window if a safe distance cannot otherwise be maintained. Enumerators will be wearing a mask and will respect social distancing — and enumerators, like all census officials, take an oath to protect your data. The census is safe.
Every day, I open my email and I see the letters that so many of you send. You care about our schools, you are worried about higher education, you are concerned about our small businesses as we try to figure out what the new normal is. If, as you read this today, you recognize yourself in those words, please do your part and fill out the census.
Pick up the phone and call a friend to make sure they have filled out their census. Filling out the census and voting are two tangible ways that we make a difference. Make sure that you are doing both.
Lindsay Sabadosa is a Northampton resident and the state representative for the 1st Hampshire District. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.