A group of Somalis held a press conference today to complain that the census forms are not in their language and by golly they need to be counted because their political power is growing! Did you get that! The census is all about competing groups wanting their piece of the American pie. Truth be told, that is how the census has been selling itself—fill out the forms so your group will get its fair share of the government goodies!
From the Columbus Dispatch:
About three dozen Somali leaders gathered today to complain that census forms aren’t distributed in their language and the government isn’t doing enough to make sure that members of their community are counted.
“We need to know the real numbers of Somalis in Columbus because our population is growing and has a powerful impact on the community,” said Hawa Siad, executive director of the Somali Women & Children’s Alliance, which organized the press conference at the Global Mall on the North Side.
The groups complained that the U.S. Census Bureau hasn’t done enough to educate the Somali community about why it is important to fill out the form.
They said the census should be available in more than six languages that it is currently available. And they said the Census Bureau hasn’t hired any local Somalis to go door to door in their communities, talking to individuals who have failed to return their forms.
Census officials said they have spent more than a year presenting workshops to Columbus’ Somali community explaining why the census is done and how it should be filled out.
Nevertheless, census officials are now hiring locals to find out why the Somalis aren’t getting those forms filled in.
Don’t you think its funny that they know how to call a press conference but can’t fill out the forms.