The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

In this report:

Appendix A: Sign-On Letter from Gulf Coast Community Leaders to the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives

July 20, 2009

Honorable William "Lacy" Clay
Chairman
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census,and National Archives
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
B-349C Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515

Dear Chairman Clay:

As advocates for rebuilding strong and inclusive Gulf Coast communities in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and subsequent storms, we are very concerned about the U.S. Census Bureau's ability to achieve an accurate count of Gulf Coast residents in the 2010 census, especially in low-income, Black, Latino, and Asian American communities.  We respectfully request your consideration of a subcommittee hearing – perhaps in a Gulf Coast city, such as New Orleans -- in order to fully air and address these concerns during the final months leading up to the 2010 count.

It is well known that the decennial census is more likely to miss people of color and the poor than other demographic subgroups.  The destruction of entire communities and displacement of thousands of residents along the Gulf Coast during the hurricanes of 2005, coupled with the slower pace of rebuilding and return-migration in poorer neighborhoods, compounds the usual difficulties the Census Bureau faces in enumerating so-called "hard to count" populations groups.  According to the January 2009 New Orleans Index,[1] "massive destruction from Hurricane Katrina remains widespread … Hundreds of streets are still in disrepair.  Tens of thousands of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings remain damaged and unoccupied." (pg. 6)  According to the Census Bureau, Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish and Orleans Parish were among the nation's fastest and third-fastest growing parishes, respectively, between 2007 and 2008, and the New Orleans metro area has reached nearly 90 percent of its pre-storm population (Index, pg. 7), but settlement patterns have shifted significantly from the pre-storm blueprint, and the number of vacant and blighted residences in other parishes has increased since last fall. (Index, pg. 12)

All of these conditions -- rapid population growth, large numbers of displaced folks, and distressed neighborhoods -- present additional significant challenges for the Census Bureau and its community and municipal partners.  Mail service in blighted communities might not reach all homes in various stages of renovation, even if homeowners have started to move back in, and census takers may find it difficult to navigate unsafe and unmarked streets to reach unresponsive households and to determine correctly the occupancy status of many structures.

An accurate census is essential to all communities, but its importance is magnified in Gulf Coast communities devastated by Katrina and subsequent storms.  An analysis by the Brookings Institution showed that, in Fiscal Year 2007, Louisiana received $11.6 billion; Mississippi, $5.6 billion; and Alabama, $5.9 billion in federal funds for a wide range of critical programs and services, based in whole or in part on census data.  On average, states receive roughly $1,200 annually, or $12,000 over a decade, for each person counted in the census; figures for some states in distress, such as Louisiana, are as high as $2,695 per capita annually.  Our communities desperately need federal support to rebuild and strengthen our transportation, education, housing, health care, and public safety infrastructure.  An accurate census also offers a necessary portrait of the pace of recovery and the challenges that remain to reach our goal of long term stability and prosperity, and will help ensure that our communities are represented fairly in national and state legislatures.

Our organizations have had little contact with Census Bureau officials, and we are concerned about plans for promoting awareness and participation in communities where people remain unsettled, as well as among migrant workers and people with limited English proficiency.  We would welcome the opportunity to share our concerns and propose solutions at a congressional oversight hearing.

Thank you for your time and consideration.  Please feel free to contact Trupania "Trap" Bonner, Moving Forward Gulf Coast, at 985-643-6186 or trap@movingforwardgc.org, to discuss our request further.

Sincerely,

[the undersigned organizations]

Gulf Coast Region Sign-Ons

Louisiana

1. Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc.
2. Louisiana Justice Institute
3. Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
4. Loyola Law Clinic
5. Children's Defense Fund
6. May Day New Orleans, Inc.
7. Fourth World Movement
8. New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice
9. Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic
10. Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association
11. Puentes
12. Neighborhood Partnership Network
13. V.O.T.E.
14. Mennonite Central Committee--New Orleans
15. Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond
16. Zion Travelers Cooperative Center
17. Juvenile Justice Project
18. Family and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children
19. Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies
20. Greater New Orleans Organizers Roundtable
21. Gulf States Human Rights Working Group
22. Deep South Leaders network
23. NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Mississippi

1. Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance
2. NAACP-Biloxi
3. Coastal Women for Change
4. ACTS
5. El Pueblo
6. HOPE Center
7. Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
8. North Gulfport Community Land Trust
9. Turkey Creek Community Initiative
10. Visions of HOPE
11. Gulf Coast Latin American Association
12. The Boat People
13. Mississippi Center for Justice
14. S.T.E.P.S. Coalition

Alabama

1. Greater Birmingham Ministries
2. Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama
3. Alabama Arise
4. Fair Housing Center
5. Emerging Change-Makers
6. Homeless Coalition of the Gulf Coast
7. Bay Area Women Coalition
8. Homeless Coalition of the Gulf Coast
9. Alabama ARISE

cc:
Hon. Patrick McHenry, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
Hon. Edolphus Towns, Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Hon. Darrell Issa, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government
Louisiana congressional delegation
Mississippi congressional delegation
Alabama congressional delegation
Marc H. Morial, Chairman, 2010 Census Advisory Committee