The Racial Aspect of the Census - Essay Example

Taxation only with representation is the basis of America’s break from England. The census is also good for tracing statistical data, which helps fight poverty, determines if enough food supplies are available for the current population, and helps people trace their genealogy. These are some of the helpful uses for the census.
The intentions of censuses are good, but censuses can also be deplorable. In America, the census does not just count people for representation; it gathers information on the race of the population. One author states “It is the United States, however, that has the longest continuous history of placing its entire population into mutually exclusive racial categories based on pseudo-scientific theories." Although segregation ended during the Civil Rights Movement, the American census has never caught up. One author even suggests the "Census established the official tradition of collecting racial data. The purpose was far from benign. It is no accident that this decade witnessed the most intense attempts to build a segregated racial order.” The categories of race used by the census are wrong. Other organizations could place people in races, but the American Census Bureau should only count people.
The consequences of racial grouping can be deadly. Nazi Germany proved that. The Nazis conducted two censuses one in 1933, then one in 1939. Without these censuses, the Nazis would not have been to methodically round up the Jews, leading to the death of six million. If Germany’s 1933 and 1939 censuses would have only counted people, not race, the Nazis would have had a harder time identifying Jews.
If used for statistical purposes, or for congressional representation, the census is good. The racial aspect of the census needs to be reconsidered. Like so many other governmental practices in America, the census needs to evolve. That is the reason America is so great; the ability to change defect policies.