How will Portuguese Americans be counted in the United States in 2020?
As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, our nation gets just one chance each decade to count its population. The U.S. census counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. This is the year 2020! Don’t wait another 10 years to be counted!!
Beginning on March 12, 2020, all residents of the United States will be asked to complete a short questionnaire about EACH PERSON living in their household (one questionnaire per household) in the following ways:
- Online on your computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device at www.my2020census.gov
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Phone at 844-330-2020 (for English) or 844-474-2020 (for Portuguese)
About the Portuguese population in the United States:
The Portuguese as an ethnic group have not had a “complete count” in over 20 years. Because of the lack of an ancestry question, Portuguese was neither coded nor tabulated in the 2010 Census and counted only as “White” rendering us invisible for statistical purposes. This hampers our efforts in education, civic engagement and health research.
Without official statistics we are unable to demonstrate how many and where we are in:
1) Applying for grants for Portuguese Language Education or defending such programs before local school committees;
2) Proving our political strength to elected officials in districts of high Portuguese population;
3) Undertaking health studies about the disease rates among the Portuguese in specific communities.
Some Examples of How to Respond to the Race / Origins Question:
So, Make Portuguese Count in 2020!
For more information visit the PALCUS Make Portuguese Count Community page at the following link https://www.palcus.org/makeportuguesecount