EDITORIAL: Time to be counted (03/26/00)

EDITORIAL

Time to be counted

The United States is now conducting its 22nd Census of Housing and Population. (For the record, the first U.S. decennial Census was conducted in 1790.) While most households will receive the short form of the Census questionnaire, containing six population questions and one housing question, one of out every six will receive the long form, which contains 26 additional population questions and 20 additional housing questions - including significant questions about ethnicity and language.

As noted by Dr. Oleh Wolowyna in our January 9 issue, Census data provide the only information for estimating the number of Ukrainians in the United States, as a survey trying to capture a representative sample of all Ukrainians in the United States would be prohibitively costly. The ancestry question (What is this person's ancestry or ethnic origin?) allows respondents to identify themselves as being of Ukrainian ancestry or of mixed ancestry. The language question (Does this person speak a language other than English at home? What is that language?) provides a reasonable measure of the degree of language assimilation. In addition, the Census asks respondents where they were born.

These questions have been used in the past to estimate the total number of Ukrainians in this country, and to measure linguistic assimilation and assimilation due to intermarriage. Using a sample of full Census records, Dr. Wolowyna explained, it has been possible to make quantitative analyses of U.S. Ukrainians both for 1980 (when a total of 730,056 persons were determined to be of Ukrainian ancestry, both those listing a single ancestry and those listing mixed ancestry) and 1990 (738,400).

Since the same questions will be asked in the 2000 Census, this will be an opportunity to update information about the status of Ukrainians in the United States - especially crucial now with the influx of the "Fourth Wave" of immigrants from Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition, the new data will provide an update about the situation of Ukrainians in this country: geographical distribution, assimilation, socio-economic and housing characteristics, etc.

It is important for everyone to fill out the Census questionnaire, regardless of whether it is the long or the short form. The reason: Census data are used for a variety of purposes, including allocation of federal and state funding; planning of schools, hospitals and a community's infrastructure; determination of the number of a state's representatives in Congress and definition of voting districts. An accurate count of potential Ukrainian voters can also be used for political lobbying.

That said, we must underline two points: 1) Census data are confidential; 2) that confidentiality is strictly protected by U.S. law. In accordance with Title 13, United States Code, the Census Bureau cannot share the individual answers it receives with others, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Internal Revenue Service. It should also be noted that assistance to those filling out forms is available in more than 40 languages - Ukrainian among them. Special guides are available at local Census Questionnaire Assistance Centers or on the Internet (www.census.gov).

Thus, there is no reason that Ukrainian Americans and those recently arrived in this country cannot fill out the 2000 Census Questionnaire. It's important for our country, our local communities and our Ukrainian American community.

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