what are the repercussions for not sending back the census? are there any legal ramifications? Is anyone not sending it back?
Why would you not send it back? It asks how many people live in your house. They use it to collect data about your community so they can add/reduce things like numbers of class rooms and teachers, public transportation, street lights ect. I don't think there are any "legal" ramifications but if you don't send it they will send one of those USL grads to your house holding one of those little hand helds to ask you the questions that were on the form that you didn't send in. Don't worry, they don't ask if you are growing hippie lettuce in the back yard, don't ask for your phone number, or ssn or anything like that. Name and DOB is all.
:lol: well, the questions they ask like about race and stuff like that, what does that matter? My wife was adopted and has no idea who her biological parents are, and we don't have any idea what her race is. She is dark skinned but we think she has indian, latina, etc etc. So then in turn, i don't know what to put under race for my daughter either, and i don't want to lie, but i just don't have a clue and neither does my wife.
is there an option for "other"? and i agree that i dont see any reason not to send it in. because among other things, representation size (number of congressional districts) for each state are determined by population. i used to do a lot of geneology and the information contained in census records was invaluable, not only for my individual purposes, but for getting an idea of what our country was like at that time.
Race is a determinant in how those districts get cut up. Change a black congressman's district to an all white neighborhood, and watch him lose office, or vice versa. It's a practice that has been and still is abused. My congressman is the idiot Sheila Jackson Lee. Is it because I live in a black neighborhood? Sort of. I live downtown. She will have to go to jail to lose her seat.
Yep. The census takers will come and the qualifications they hold for their temporary jobs are not that high. I send in the information, it takes 30 seconds and its in the mail postage-free. Then strangers, who perhaps have their own agendas, don't come to my house to check things out. How much would street gangs pay to a census taker to note the houses she visits that have widescreen TVs, sound systems, art, computers, and cameras laying around. Just the ones with no dog and no alarm system, please. The Census doesn't ask these things, but census takers can observe whats observable. Strangers with part-time jobs. "not known" is always an acceptable answer. They are not requiring you to guess. But most people have some sort of self-identity and multi-ethnic is certainly one that many people have. I think its an option, I don't remember.
the census form tells you exactly what the ramifications are, read it. race, on any form, is always self identified. you can put anything you want. nobody will come and argue with you about it. put pacific islander or filthy jew or whatever, it doesnt matter. the only time i can ever imagine having any sort of problem with race on any form is when you are maybe applying for a race-based prize, like an naacp scholarship or whatever. but things like that are racist and presumably you hate racism and want no part of such things. the point is that you get to tell folks what race you are, or feed them whatever info you want.
there are options for other but it asks you to print what "other" is. there isn't an "i have no idea" option. i did read it, and its pretty damned vague. screw it i will just leave that part blank and send it back.
good point. i forgot tho that gerrymandering is alive and well no matter what party is in control of a district, whether it is local, state, or federal.
