Counting every person in America’s 10th most populated city, not to mention every person in the country, sounds like an impossible mission.
But it must be done, according to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution.
San Jose has a population of more than 1 million people, according to the United States Census Bureau.
The census is a government operation that aims to count every person living in the U.S. every 10 years, regardless of
citizenship status.
However, some local lawmakers foresee an undercount when the census begins on April 1.
“Perhaps 40% of our adults were born in a foreign country” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in an interview with KQED. “We’re typically undercounted in census efforts.”
Four San Jose State students recently aimed to fix that.
Their group #YouCount, part of Dwight, Bentel & Hall Communications, an on-campus public relations and advertising agency, finished up their campaign seeking to increase youth participation at SJSU in the census.
Agency members said there’s a lack of information about the census directed toward youth.
“A lot of people that are on this campus right now were very young during the last census and don’t know very much about it,” said Outreach and Partnerships Director Monica Mallon in February. “[We also want to] dispel a lot of rumors that are out there about the immigration question and some of the things that have happened over the last
12 months or so.”
Mallon explained the main issue that could deter students from participating in the census – housing.
“A lot of people are scared that the data could be used against them, like to their landlords,” Creative Director Kevin Perez said. “Like if there’s too many people living under one roof, it could be used to kick them out.”
The students wanted to make it clear this example and many others simply aren’t true. The group added that the census is taken on an aggregate, so there is “no way that they could even figure out individual assets of people.”
Despite what many believe, the census doesn’t ask if respondents are U.S. citizens.
“We have to get them informed on letting them know they’re safe filling [the census] out,” said Meghan Buckman, the social media and personal relations director for #YouCount. “They’re scared of saying that they’re not a citizen. They’re scared of putting that on the questionnaire and we have to let them know that it’s 100% confidential.”
The students behind #YouCount believe getting the correct information out there will help all of San Jose’s population be correctly counted in April, regardless of citizenship status.
“There’s no difference in what an immigrant needs and what someone like me that was born in California needs,” Mallon said. “We all need the same things.”
#YouCount focused on ensuring two key demographics at SJSU are counted correctly: young Black men and young Hispanic men.
The #You Count group were part of this year’s Bateman Case Study Competition, a nationwide collegiate public relations contest that ended Friday where teams built a campaign focused on a particular category. This year’s theme was the census.
Since the census takes place every 10 years, #YouCount members attempted to make sure SJSU students learned its importance.
“[The census] gives a snapshot of what your community looks like,” said Team Lead Alannah McDermott. “The number of people in the demographics pretty much tell the government where to spend money and where resources are needed.”
The results of the census determine how many congressional seats are granted to each state, as well as where money is distributed from the federal government to states and local communities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to the #YouCount website, “The money received could be used to improve schools, hospitals, fire departments, new neighborhoods and public transportation.”
The group has a social media-based campaign, maintaining Twitter and Instagram pages as well as a website. The site contains general information about the census, including a link to the online self-response option, and has information on future #YouCount events.
The student group worked with Vilcia Rodriguez, San Jose City 2020 census project manager, to advocate for youth participation.
“I think that any support that we get for the census to engage the community . . . is very valuable,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a lot at stake in the census this time around. There always is, but more so this time around . . . We need to get as many people on board to help with the education and motivation efforts around the census.”
Working with Rodriguez, the agency spoke to a group of about 30 people at the SJSU Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center in February to spread awareness to a demographic that is typically undercounted.
“That was pretty cool because most [students] in there didn’t really know much about the census,” Buckman said. “Especially knowing that their community is significantly underrepresented just because they aren’t given enough information.”
In addition to the presentation, the group tabled at the Seventh Street Plaza on campus at the beginning of March. There, passerbys filled out pledge cards listing their name and where they’d like to see federal funds applied.
#YouCount was also planning to have the cornerstone event of the campaign, an on-campus rally on March 11. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation against having public gatherings to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the group wasn’t able to move forward with the event.
But the members still wanted to make the best out of an unfortunate situation.
“We were going to provide Little Caesars pizzas [at the event],” McDermott said. “We still kept that order and we then gave that pizza to the City of San Jose . . . and we made a little game called ‘census pizza’. ”
City workers were given slices that each represented a section of the San Jose community that could receive a “part of the pie” in funding as a result of the census, such as transportation and Medi-Cal.
“We’re so happy that we got to be a part of this,” McDermott said. “Obviously we weren’t expecting [the current situation] to happen . . . but we’re really excited that we got to do [this campaign].”
