The city of New Orleans is engaging in one last push to get people to fill out their census forms. City officials say they are battling misconceptions about the once-every-ten-years national head count.
"There's always misinformation," said Arthur Walton, director of intergovernmental relations for the city of New Orleans. Walton says they've been fighting to overcome that misinformation.
Walton says a lot of the reluctance comes from questions people believe are in the census, but actually are not.
"Like a lot of people think they're going to ask for your Social Security number. That's not on the census," he explained. "They don't ask for your immigration status. That's not on the census."
He said the census also is not used by the government to keep track of citizens.
"Historically there has been a kind of reluctance to engage in any government, federal, local, and state, by black and brown communities."
Walton says you can trace that distrust all the way back to the three-fifths compromise of the 1780s -- but he stresses it's important to get an accurate census, because communities like New Orleans need the proper resources.
"The way I like to explain it to people: the Head Start centers in the city are primarily federally funded," he said. "If we're telling the federal government that we have 150 children when we really have 500 children, we're going to get money for 150 children. So you can see what kind of predicament that puts us in."
The census can be filled out online at census.gov, or even by phone, by calling (844) 330-2020.
