Black Leaders Speak Out On Historical Undercounting Of Blacks In Census

 


Marc Morial (National Urban League), the Rev. Al Sharpton and others hold press conference to reveal details of meeting and commitments to help alleviate undercounting in upcoming 2010 Census


Who: Marc Morial, chair, 2010 Census Advisory Committee and president and CEO, National Urban League

Congressman Lacy Clay, chair of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives

Rev. Al Sharpton, president, National Action Network

Calvin Smyre, chairman, National Black Caucus of State Legislators

John Payton, president, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Melanie Campbell, executive director and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation/Unity Diaspora Coalition

Danny Bakewell, publisher, LA Sentinel and president, National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA)


Where: National Press Club, Murrow Room
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045

When: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
2:00pm

What: In a show of solidarity and a commitment to alleviating historical undercounting of Blacks in the U.S. Census, Black leaders addressed their concerns in a special meeting with Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Census Bureau leadership, The meeting, planned by Marc Morial, chair of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee and president and CEO of the National Urban League, allowed leaders hear the Department’s commitment to tackle the undercounting problem in terms of jobs, resources, community outreach. The leaders also wanted to share plans some Black organizations have for community outreach and mobilization and offer to be engaged partners with the Census Bureau in its efforts. Ben Jealous, president and CEO, NAACP also participated in the meeting.

The press conference will reveal details of the meeting and participants will share some of the initiatives and programs already in place to ensure that the black population, particularly in hard to count areas, are not overlooked or undercounted in the 2010 Census. 

Undercounting of Blacks in Census counts are extremely important as Census results determine how more than $400 billion in federal dollars are distributed across the country and used for needed services and facilities like hospitals, job training, senior citizen centers and public works projects. They also are used to determine how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

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