Black Leaders Convene with U.S. Secretary of Commerce on Historical Undercounting of Blacks in the U.S. Census

WASHINGTON – Marc Morial (National Urban League), the Rev. Al Sharpton (National Action Network), Congressman Lacy Clay, Melanie Campbell (National Coalition on Black Civic Participation) and others, plan to hold a press conference on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 at 2pm to discuss meeting and share action plans to help prevent undercounting in 2010 Census.

In a show of solidarity and commitment to preventing undercounting of blacks in the 2010 Census, black leaders will hold a special meeting with Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Census Bureau leadership, with a press conference immediately following.

In the meeting, planned by Morial, chair of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee, leaders will hear about the Department’s plans for tackling this issue in terms of jobs, resources and community outreach. Black leaders will share plans for outreach and mobilization and offer to partner with the Census Bureau to ensure a full count, including those from all parts of the black Diaspora. Others meeting participants will include Ben Jealous, president and CEO, NAACP; Benjamin Afrifa, president, African Federation; and Dr. Claire Nelson, president, Institute of Caribbean Studies.

At the press conference leaders will discuss the meeting and plans to help ensure that the black population, particularly in hard to count areas, is not overlooked or undercounted in the 2010 Census.

Black leaders say the historical undercounting of blacks in the Census has negatively impacted the level of government resources allocated to black communities and political representation. Census results determine how more than $400 billion in federal dollars are distributed across the country for services and facilities like hospitals, job training and public works projects and how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives.