Attack on Census Takers

As I read the different papers/websites on a daily basis, I come across the major headlines that usually make the nightly news or show up on either CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News. But then there are other articles or stories that catch my eye. They can be funny or serious or something in between. I came across one earlier that left me more angry than amused.

At this point most people should be aware that there is a census going on this year. Every 10 years the federal government takes a census of the United States population. Some are not the biggest fans of it and often fight the need to fill it out and return it. After a census is done, each state can re-access how many people make up their state and districts are redrawn based on results. Some states gain representatives for the U.S. House of Representatives while others lose them based on the population of a given state.

Well, when there is anger amongst the nation; it should not be a total shock that there are several people who are going to be hostile about simply answering a handful of questions. And the people at risk are the census takers. At this point in the process, the census taker workers are going door-to-door and finding out the hard way that there are some inhumane individuals in some of our cities.

As we saw last summer; insidious comments, malice, and signs of violence has found their way into parts of our society. Now census takers are being shot at with pellet guns and hit by baseball bats. Patio furniture, lawn mowers, and pickaxes have been either thrown at them or threatened with them. Also ducks have nipped at them and dogs have barked at them as well as in some cases; they have bitten them.

At this point, the Census Bureau has reported 379 incidents involving either threats or actual assaults geared towards the 635,000 census workers. That total of 379 is more than double the 181 incidents that were reported ten years ago. Weapons were involved in roughly 1/3rd of the reports. And now as this phase of census intake reaches it end, many of these takers who are being threatened are walking away early because they fear for their lives.

The anger that the takers are encountering is coming from those who find the census as being intrusive by the government. One taker had a tug-of-war of sorts with one resident over their form in Florida. Another was cursed and spat at in Houston, TX. One day this particular person was attacked by one homeowner's tirade that led to them throwing a table. The anger these two census were met with led them to quit their jobs for fear of their lives. One of the regional census directors for the DC area notices that the anti-government is high, but not much higher than usual. However, it is much more vociferous. The passion level is higher, which makes the environment a lot more unsafe.

Some of these attacks have been infrequent, but the robberies or carjacking are borderline scary. As is a census taker being shot at multiple times or a census taker being pulled into someone's home. Another worker was attacked by a pit bull and still has a bit of an injury from it.

Part of the commentary that the census workers are hearing are that some of these census takers are agents of Obama. One worker in Washington heard something along those lines for example. In California, two census workers, who were not technically trespassing as per their rights as census takers, were met by hostility from a resident who chased them down with a crossbow. No charges were brought against the individual. Another resident in Ohio attacked a census taker under the same premise as the previous example except this time the homeowner hit the census taker because he thought he was a trespasser as well as a census taker. This person was at least charged with the felony of assault. The injuries that one census taker received from a dog has forced them to go to doctors and the census is paying for all those medical bills.

All of these incidents have caused census workers to ask the Census Bureau to allow them to have weapons. After this census cycle is complete, Bureau officials will review everything that transpired. As we have seen thus far, several workers have quite already and many more who finish this cycle do not plan on returning for future work after what they encountered. Someone's life outranks doing something for the good of the state and country.

Now I completely understand if you do not agree with government policies, but the census is something that I still cannot wrap my head around why so many people get so infuriated. It does not ask you anything more than you would put on your tax returns each April. Actually, it is far less. Your name, address, and number of people in your household make up the base part of the form. It took me two minutes to answer the questions. I did not feel like I was revealing anything too personal.

These census forms help the federal government as well as the state government determine many things in addition to the overall population. These census takers would not have to come knock on your door if you simply just took to the couple minutes and filled out the form and sent it back. And, as much as I do not support the decision; if you feel the need to kindly tell the person who comes to your "No thank you", I would almost understand that. But what puts me off the top and the reason for this post is the audacity that some of these people have. What the hell gives you the right to chase someone with a gun, a crossbow, a table, a chair, or any other weapon or object. Or in some cases, letting your dog out after the census worker. It brings back memories of some of the stupidity I witnessed last summer over the health care debate. It is a strength to call some of these people humans and almost begs the argument that they deserve to be in a special center.

These census workers do not make your laws. They don't decide your fate. They are hardworking people who are trying to provide for their family and put some money in their pockets. Most of these jobs are not full time and they will be out of a job at some point. Don't you think that they are a little worried about life after this. So, have a little decency and grow up. Stop bickering over a little form that isn't going to take your house or job or whatever you think you might lose over sending it in.

Attacking a harmless man or woman who is unarmed is simply a sign of cowardice. But as I have seen over the last couple years, the wingnuts in the media and mostly the Republican Party have only stoked this type of behavior. This is just another example of one of the things wrong with this country.