By Sean Piverger
Cliff Shaw once said, “It’s the little things that count, hundreds of ‘em.” This quote rings true for Louise.
In 2018, Louise (who didn’t want to reveal her real name) went on a cruise to Cabo San Lucas. The cruise was a birthday gift from her son and she was ready to celebrate in style. But there was one problem. She needed a birth certificate. Without it, there would be no cruise. However thanks to a little thing called the U.S. Census, she was able to get her birth certificate.
“And it proved to be important when I tried to get my birth certificate to leave the country,” said Louise.
Louise was born in Claremore, Oklahoma on December 18, 1939. She is the youngest of 13 siblings. One year after her birth, Louise and her family moved to California. But before the move, the Census knocked on the door. Her mother was able to do the Census and saw to it that Louise was counted.
“If my mother [didn’t do] the Census, I would have been non-existent,” she said. Louise also said that there was no record of her birth because she was born at home. At that time African Americans were not allowed in hospitals.
Years later, when Louise (who lives in senior housing) called Carnival Cruises to make arrangements to go to Cabo San Lucas, she was required to obtain a birth certificate. So she called the State of Oklahoma to obtain a copy of it. At first Louise didn’t know that it exists. The experience in getting Louise’s birth certificate was a challenge. She sent multiple documents but they couldn’t find any records.
“Nothing worked. Nothing was good enough,” she said.
On the third try, Louise sent them three documents: A birth certificate that belonged to one of her children, her life insurance policy, and her social security card. Once again nothing happened. But on that third try something different happened in which Louise got her birth certificate.
“I had a hard time getting this piece of paper and they finally looked and [seen] where my mother had did the Census before she left Oklahoma.”
Louise got help from a social worker in obtaining her birth certificate.
Every 10 years since 1790, people across the nation have signed up to be part of the U.S. Census. By signing up for the Census, cities can receive federal funding that goes towards schools, roads and highways, Medicaid, wildlife management, and other programs and services.
“It determines the flow of money and power for the next 10 years,” said Mara Abrams.
In a TEDx Talk that was made in November 2018, Mara Abrams, Founder and Co-Director of the Census Open Innovation Labs at the U.S. Census Bureau, said that the Census “is actually one of the most important pieces of our democracy and nobody knows this.”
“A few people know it but not very many. Not enough.”
According to Abrams, there are people who have not taken the Census because they think that it’s “bad” or “boring.” However if people don’t take the Census then it would lead to “massive undercounts” that include “underrepresented minorities, Millennials and Gen Z, rural and tribal populations, [and] children under the age of five.” She also said that in 2010 “2 million kids were left out of the Census.”
Abrams encouraged the audience to participate in the Census so that everybody can be counted. The deadline is October 31. The next Census won’t be until 2030.
“It’s important that you take it so that [you’ll] be counted,” said Louise.
Louise had a “nice” time on her cruise and if she would tell individuals or groups about the Census, she would say this,
“It’s good to be counted.”
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