Videos Urge Everyone to Be Counted in the 2010 Census

The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) has produced a set of public service announcements (PSAs) to encourage full participation in the 2010 census.

The ads — featuring prominent members of the Asian-American and civil rights communities — emphasize that participating in the census is easy, confidential, and will help determine political representation and the allocation of funding for essential public services.

Ugly Betty’s Alec Mapa, Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general, civil rights division, dept. of justice, California Rep. Mike Honda, and leaders from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, OCA, and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance appear in the ads.

The PSAs are a part of the AAJC’s 2010 Census Campaign, which aims to explain and promote the upcoming census to all communities, including the historically undercounted Asian-American community.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) has partnered with AAJC and three other national civil rights organizations, and will be working closely with local organizations in 13 key areas around the country, to encourage census participation among hard-to-count populations.

Census information is used to determine where and how more than $400 billion in government funding is spent each year. Each person who goes uncounted will cost thousands of dollars a year, depriving local communities of funding for essential resources such as schools, health clinics, senior centers, and job training sites. Census information also helps empower communities by making sure that they are included when new congressional and legislative districts are drawn.

It is required by law that everyone living in the U.S. participates in the census and all responses are confidential.