Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL) Census 2010

The following was written about the importance of writing in “Taiwanese” on the 2010 US Census:

WRITE IN “TAIWANESE”

Every decade, the US CENSUS counts everyone residing in the United States — in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas– as mandated by the US Constitution. Beginning in March, CENSUS FORMS will be delivered to mailboxes. A key date to know is APRIL 1ST, or CENSUS DAY, the day of reference when filling in the form to account for everyone in your household. If the form is not mailed out, Census takers visit households door to door to record data between April and July 2010.

The WRITE IN “TAIWANESE” campaign was created in an effort to combat the vast undercount of Taiwanese in the United States. Recent projections estimate that there are over 1 MILLION Taiwanese in the United States, but the 2000 Census recorded only 144,795 people. Without a change in education and awareness, the Taiwanese population in the US will once again be overlooked and history shall be doomed to repeat itself in the 2010 US Census.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Census data is used to distribute CONGRESSIONAL SEATS to states, to make decisions about what COMMUNITY SERVICES to provide, and to distribute $400 BILLION in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.

For Asian ethnicities such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Vietnamese, one is able to fill in a bubble to declare their ethnicity in the Census. However, for someone of Taiwanese descent to declare their ethnicity on the Census they need to fill in the bubble for “OTHER ASIAN” and then write in “TAIWANESE.” Many Taiwanese Americans and Taiwanese are unaware of this when filling out Census questionnaires. Census information is also protected by federal law to be kept safe and private.

By educating and encouraging families, young professionals, and college students alike to properly fill out the Census, we can achieve a larger and more accurate count. Thus, the VOICE OF TAIWANESE AMERICA will be more strongly considered by the POLITICAL, FINANCIAL, AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS of the United States of America.

…And maybe next time, “Taiwanese” won’t be listed as an “Other Asian”.