warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Census Outreach Gets Rocking

Natalie Ragus |
April 1, 2010 | 7:19 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

U.S. Census employees helped local Latino residents complete their census
questionnaires Thursday at the Rock the Census event at MacArthur Park.
(Natalie Ragus)
Advocacy groups appealed to young Latinos Thursday to help boost census participation rates among Los Angeles' Hispanic population at the "Rock the Census" event.
The free concert in MacArthur Park featuring prominent Latino artists -- including singers Maxso and Paloma -- drew hundreds on Census Day, the deadline by which the federal government wants people to send back their census questionnaires.
 
A slew of U.S. Census Bureau employees were on hand at the concert to help clear up common misconceptions about the count process and assist people in filling out questionnaires accurately and completely.
"We want the youths to go out and tell their parents that the census is an important thing to do," said Salvador Ardon of the Salvadoran-American Leadership and Education Fund.

Much hinges on the results of the census count.

The most densely populated pockets of the country will receive the lion's share of federal funding for hospitals, clinics, schools, public transportation and scores of other services. The count could also affect whether a state gains or loses representatives in Congress.
But Latinos have typically shied away from participating in the census, and, in doing so, inadvertently disenfranchised their own communities. 
"Latin America is notorious for having corrupt governments," Ardon said. Because of this, Latinos in the U.S. typically don't trust the government and are afraid of completing the form, according to Ardon.
Los Angeles' Pico-Union district serves as a case in point.
During the last census in 2000, Pico-Union -- where Latinos make up 92 percent of the population -- was one of the most undercounted areas of the entire country, Ardon said. It also happens to be one of the most populous districts in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. 
Because of the undercounting, Pico-Union "doesn't have the funding to keep up with the population," Ardon said. "This area needs schools, it needs hospitals, it needs transportation."
A recent Pew Hispanic Center study showed foreign-born Latinos are more likely to fill out their census questionnaires than those born here, a phenomenon census employee Antonio Gallo attributed to the U.S. Census Bureau's blitz of radio ads on Spanish television and radio stations.
Native-born Latinos for whom English is their first or only language may have missed those ads, Gallo said.
On Thursday, the pavilion at MacArthur Park rocked as Maxso, took the stage to perform his new single "She's Hot," and to pay tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
The half-Puerto Rican, half-Mexican 12-year-old singing sensation said he welcomed the opportunity to help encourage Latinos to participate in the census so they can receive ample funding for their communities.
"The census is basically about unity," he said. "It's a way for everybody to come together."
Like the tunes of the Pied Piper, the music coming from the pavilion continued to draw larger and larger crowds as the concert wore on well into the evening. Vendors hawked cotton candy and pork rinds, while a student group from Civitas High School of Leadership sold candy bars to raise money to send a deserving classmate to college.
Between performers, Latin television personality Nancy Agosto spoke to the crowd in Spanish about the importance of the census and encouraged attendees to fill out their forms.
Sitting on a bench with her younger brother, Thomas, 18-year-old Pelphina Marquez said she had already persuaded her parents to mail back the family's census questionnaire.
"I'm here to enjoy the concert," she said, swaying to the music. 
Meanwhile, Xiomara Hernandez tentatively approached the Census Bureau table, her questionnaire in hand and English-speaking, pre-teen daughter by her side. 
"I couldn't [fill out the questionnaire] at home because I needed help," she said in Spanish through a translator. "I wanted to fill it out correctly so I came here...I knew it was important."

Reach reporter Natalie Ragus here. Join Neon Tommy's Facebook fan page or follow us on Twitter.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.