Jenny was making a good point. “There’s no there there,” she said about the 2010 US Census. The Census categories do seem limited. Name, race, sex, date of birth, whether we own or rent our home, and the number of people living in it.
“Bank of America and Amazon.com know more about us than the US Census Bureau,” Jenny continued.
“Or Facebook,” I chimed in. “Facebook knows everything about us.” The US Census Bureau should get with Facebook or utilize technology by offering an online survey option in addition to the paper option for those who don’t have the necessary technology. This way, they could aggregate the data more easily. Not to mention the paper and postage an online option would save. It would be cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and would also allow for a few more questions.
For instance, Jenny and I checked unmarried partner, but wrote in domestic partner. Couldn’t they add that as a category? Not to mention LGBT. I’m all for Queering the Census, but I think they could also consider asking about education, occupation, income, whether we have health care. And what about pets? They didn’t even ask about Rosie and she’s a big part of our household.
Rosie would like to be counted in the US Census.
After we completed our form, I updated my status on Facebook, “I checked Other Asian for my race in the 2010 Census.” Jenny’s brother Dane commented, “Do they have a Eurotrash category or are we all considered white now?”
I told him, “You are now white. In previous years, you were considered pink according to Jenny’s papers.” Jenny’s birth certificate lists “complexion.” The categories are pink, brown, and we think it might have included yellow, but we need to fact check that.
Jenny has a registration card issued to her father in 1946. The racial categories listed are, “White, Negro, Oriental, Indian and Filipino.” It also asks for complexion, “Sallow, light, ruddy, freckled, light brown, dark brown, or black.”
I guess I would be light brown or dark brown. I’m not sure. It depends on the season. But I’m still curious about this “Other Asian” category in the 2010 Census. Why did they separate Asian Indian from the rest of the South Asians? The Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans didn’t even make it onto the form.
Jenny’s other brother Neal chimed in on Facebook. He wanted to know, “Is there a category for ‘fond of Asians?’”
No, but they might consider including Gaysians and Rice Queens in the 2020 Census.
Leaving Pakistan 