The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and the Department of Latina/o Studies will be sponsoring a panel on March 6 about “the most controversial decennial census in decades.”

The event, titled “Race, Place and the Politics of Census 2020,” will take place in the Levis Faculty Center in room 210 at 4 p.m.

Multiple scholars will be on the panel to discuss the 2020 census with a focus on citizenship at a politically polarized time, with topics including different racial groups’ understanding of the government, government distrust, nonprofits in aiding participation in the census and the impact of the political divide on racial groups. 

Julie Dowling, professor in LAS and an organizer of the event, said what was once viewed by many citizens as a mundane measurement of the population has become intensely politicized under the current president and his administration.

“Census 2020 will be the most controversial decennial census in decades, as the current administration has politicized the Census with the proposal to add a highly contested question on citizenship during an already politically polarized time,” Dowling said in an email. “While there will be no citizenship question in 2020, the impact of its presence in the news cycles for 18 months, plus the increasing climate of cynicism regarding the government will shape participation in Census 2020.”

Dowling said presentations of her, along with her colleagues’, expert resources and opinions on the census will hopefully educate attendees on the importance and risks associated with the once-in-a-decade count.

“There is a lot at stake here,” Dowling said in an email. “An undercount would cost Illinois millions in federal funds and possibly a seat in Congress. I hope attendees will walk away with a clear sense of the importance of the census and the barriers we face in getting an accurate count.”

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