C*******h 发帖数: 6095 | 1 2020 人口普查表的最新样本已经出炉。 那里面没有把“亚裔”跟其它的美国大种族例
如白人黑人那样列入一级分类,Asian 这个一级分类就这样消失于迷踪。
如何把“Asian”找回来? 这里有几个办法。 第一就是直接给人口普查局的局长写信
。 注意不是用email 轰炸,而是邮政信件。 第二就是跟您所居住的选区的国会代表写
信。 这可以是Email 。 目前人口普查局已经把最新的那个版本送交国会讨论。 国会
议员的看法很重要。 下面这有两份写给人口普查局局长的信件的样本。 请大家讨论并
修改之后,寄给局长或者您的国会议员。 以下就是两个样本:
Your Address
Your Phone Number
Your Email Address
Date
Director Dr. Ron Jarmin
U.S. Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
Honorable Director Dr. Ron Jarmin,
(Intruduce yourself), I am writing to express my concern about the race
question in the 2020 census. my concern is about the format of the question,
instead of the content of the question.
For Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), there are multiple boxes to
click. By contrast, for other races and ethnicities such as Black, White,
or Native Americans, respondents have with one write-in box for each race-
ethnic designation. I believe the extra Asian boxes are harmful to the AAPI
community in the following ways.
1. Continuing the legacy of the Chinese/Asian Exclusion Act. The Census
first implemented an Asian special race box in 1870. Persons of East and
Southeast Asian descent were first all called “Chinese,” irrespective of
whether they actually came from Imperial China or not (the word “Chinese”
first appeared in 1870 Census). In later censuses, ethnicities based on
country of
origin such as Japanese (1890), Filipino (1930), and Korean (1930) were
created and added, and each new category served a political reason or was
used as a tool to practice immigrant exclusion before the civil rights
movement in the 1960s. It is time to end this hurtful legacy and further
unify the AAPI community.
2. Casting the smaller AAPI communities as the “other.” The current census
question alienates AAPI community members who do not belong to one the
largest nine groups. It is a way of implying that some ethnicities are not
as important as others.
3. Hindering free self-expression of ethnic and cultural identity. In the
current system, White people can write in Russian Jewish, South European, or
Middle Eastern if their ancestors have a complex migration history or are
from different parts of the world. It is different for the AAPI community--
you have to belong to either one box or a combination of boxes. For instance
, a person of Chinese and Vietnamese descent probably would consider herself
neither Chinese nor Vietnamese, but they are pressured to choose one box.
Also, the current system is insensitive to the identity of multiracial
persons of Asian heritage. Asian heritage has a special box, while the
heritage of other ancestries allows more nuance. Therefore, the Census would
fail to include
pertinent information about many AAPI community members.
4. Perpetuating the stereotype of Asian Americans as "forever foreigners."
Asians are considered less American than Black, White, and Native Americans.
This census race question again defines us differently from other racial
groups, and ignores the nuanced interconnectedness among AAPI communities.
5. Making Asians inferior. The current format implies that without the extra
boxes as guidance, Asian people will not know how to answer the question
properly. We know some scholars already have expressed concerns that some
respondents may click Asian, then skip the print details section. However,
this assumption is particularly troubling and racist, because it makes
Asians inferior. If people in other racial groups know how to click a box
then print, Asians know as well.
Our suggestion is to treat groups equally: One Asian, One box to print. We
urge Census Bureau to change the collection of data from persons of Asian
origin to be identical to the way that White, Black, Native American data
are collected. In 2017, the Census Bureau released an earlier version with
the equitable format, and it has been tested and proved to be effective.
However, the final version changed back to the multiple boxes practice. The
One Box approach is more culturally sensitive and statistically meaningful.
It will not increase the cost to the Census Bureau. It will also reduce the
potential confusion.
Sincerely,
Your name
Your Address
Your Phone Number
Your Email Address
Date
Director Dr. Ron Jarmin
U.S. Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
Honorable Director Dr. Ron Jarmin,
I write to you to express my concerns about the questions in the race
section of the 2020 Census form released in the “Questions Planned for the
2020 Census and American Community Survey” issued March 2018.
This version of planned 2020 Census Form puts Asian Americans under no major
racial group or category. While White Americans, Black or African-Americans
, and Hispanic/Latino Americans can choose whatever race that best fit their
identity under their main racial group/category, Asian Americans must fill
in the race box with their national origin without a main racial group/
category. For Blacks in this country, they have a choice of “African
American” in both main and subgroups, but Asian Americans don’t have such
choice at all. In other words, such check box doesn’t exist for us. This
approach makes our community very concerned. We want to be treated in the
same way other major race groups are treated such as Black, White, and
Native American.
Asian American is one of the ethnic groups that came to this country nearly
200 years ago. We contributed to the construction of transcontinental
railroad, turning the western deserts into fertile farmlands, and reviving
crumbling urban areas into vibrant commercial centers. As one of the rapid
growing minority groups with population of more than 14.7 million (2010
Census data), we Asian Americans deserve a simple check box of “Asian
American” to show our existence in this great nation.
The racial complexity of Asian American is beyond one’s imagination. A
Chinese may immigrate to Korea 70 year ago, married a local woman there, and
then immigrated to the United States after Korean War with his family, and
have two or more generations here in this great country. Which race box
should this Asian American’s great, grandchildren check in the 2020 Census
form?
For many Asian immigrants’ who came to this country more than 100 years ago
, many of their great, grand children have never set a foot to any Asian
countries. They had lost ties with their grand parents’ national origin
many, many years ago. The only language they speak is English. Why should
they check themselves as “Korean”, ”Chinese”, ”Japanese”, or “Asian
Indian”, etc.? Can these Americans simply choose “Asian American” as race
, just like African-American?
Here are my suggestions that may make your job easier and more accurate:
1. Change the collection of data from persons of Asian origin to be
identical to the way that White, Black, Native American data are collected.
In 2017, the Census Bureau released an earlier version with the equitable
format (clearly put "Asian" as a main race group), and it has been tested
and proved to be effective.
2. Provide Asian Americans with a check box of "Asian American" as their
race. This is typically critical to those who have been in this country for
generations.
Your consideration will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Your name here
2018-04-01 慕容傻瓜 美国华人之声 |