When you’re a jester, you see politics from afar and for such a good many eras. Alas, this jester has typed truth to power for as long as blogs have existed. Still, the 2010’s have been an unusually busy decade (and we still have two more years) for politics & genealogy. Do you agree?
Let’s recount some from this decade:
Obama was not born in USA. Uh, yes he was. Birth Certificate from Hawaii and newspaper announcement substantiated to all but DJT. Oh, how about Trump’s genealogy? Ancestor kicked out of Germany (for illegal emigration). John McCain was born in Panama Canal Zone. American? Yes. Mitt Romney was born in Mexico. American ? Yes. How about Ted Cruz and his Canadian birth to a Cuban father & an American mother who renounced her citizenship and registered & voted in Canada … yet still he professes that he is an American. Me thinks he professes too much.
We also heard and continue to hear about Elizabeth Warner (dubbed Pocohantas by DJT) who talked about her family lore/genealogy including American Indian ancestry (Cherokee). So its 2018, DJT who dodged military service by bonespurs, like his banned ancestor (grandfather was it?) that was kicked out of Germany for not serving in the army before emigrating illegally. Now he wants to deport DACA (Dreamers), even though we have Ted Cruz as a Senator, and a FLOTUS who overstayed her visa and used the “Einstein Exceptional Immigrant” law to be admitted legally (and then chain migrated her parents) to the USA. Oh it does not end there, now the GOP want to bring back an old question on the 2020 census: “Where were you born and/or are you a US citizen?”
The census genealogy is a new wrinkle in voter suppression and representation. But it also could affect health care & hospitals and all manner of government expenditures that are based upon census demographics. This is actually a very important issue. So let’s unpack the nuances about the census, that most valuable of genealogy documents.
US Censuses
There are a few states that have utilized censuses as well but that is another blog. The US Census has been going every 10 years from 1790-2010, the next being 2020. They do not occur on years ending in ‘5’ as the press secretary seemed to allude. They also have a 72 year privacy rule. So why not fill out the census? It is after all the primary and sole method for apportioning representation. Do not be scared off or representation will go elsewhere (primarily southward). These are precisely the states that have enacted voter suppression laws that discriminate against poor or non-white citizens. So in effect you will be limiting voting and representation to places that are NOT protecting the constitution or your rights given you therein. This is why the census brouhaha in 2018 is so contentious. 2020 Census is coming and what you are asked needs to be finalized … ASAP!
Here is the 72 year privacy rule info:
The U.S. government will not release personally identifiable information about an individual to any other individual or agency until 72 years after it was collected for the decennial census. This “72-Year Rule” (92 Stat. 915; Public Law 95-416; October 5, 1978) restricts access to decennial census records.
After 72 years and then only under circumstances protecting against disclosure to the detriment of any individual according to 44 U.S.C. 2104 (from Federal Records Act of 1950).
So protection safeguards are built in.
So a president that berates immigrants (except those he’s married to) as criminals, he reneges on DACA, increases deportations and threatens to limit immigration to rules of his own choosing is talking about Census questions. Why? The answer appears to be, to intimidate naturalized citizens, permanent resident immigrants, visa visitors, and of course those who are not here legally or who over stayed their visas from being counted. As late as April 16th, 2018, the president was saying, the census would be used to prevent illegal voting!?! Uh, Mr. President, the census is private for 72 years, even if an illegal immigrant could vote illegally (not possible), he’d vote in as many as 18 Presidential elections before you knew HE did it. So that is another idiotic premise and fake justification for needing the census question. But it does show your intent to intimidate people, possibly legal citizens who were born elsewhere and became a naturalized citizen. That IS disenfranchisement of voters; voter intimidation. It is illegal. So that is the context on which the battle lines have been drawn.
But they should be counted. The naturalized citizens are entitled to voting (the other classes not). But each is entitled to representation in government as they are taxpayers. Additionally, funding for infrastructure or hospitals and other aid are apportioned by population. If you are not counted then you are losing out on government spending. Now homeless or poor people who lack documentation or the means to get documentation may be afraid of the government. But if you are not counted then they too stand to lose from social safety net programs be eliminated or moved to other population centers according to apportionment. So make sure you are counted in the census you are protected! Do not lose your government spending to another locale out of fear or intimidation.
There will be NO access to personally identifiable info for 72 years. The only access is too summaries and other aggregations of the numbers to study issues related to government budgets.
Census Questions
The questions from every prior census can be examined at: census questions . Now there are short forms and there are long forms, so there is no short answer to when was the last time a question about citizenship was asked. Before the Civil War the counting questions were more or less related to being male, female, black, white, free, slave.
1860 is the first time the question, “Where were you born?” was asked, including country if not USA. In 1900, they finally ask if you are a citizen or not (as well as where you were born and where your parents were born). So we see a new nuance of citizenship vs nativity. 1970 starts the concept of short form vs long form questions. 85% were short form. The short form did not ask where you were born. The long form asked both where and whether naturalized. 1980 short form merely asks if you are Spanish/Hispanic (not where born or whether a citizen). The Long form (every 7th person) does ask where born & citizenship. Its not clear but it appears as if households with fewer than 7 people just filled in short form.
Be a good citizen. Be an informed citizen and go to:
Stanczyk - Internet Muse™ 
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