美国国家公共电台 NPR Companies That Rely On Census Data Worry Citizenship Question Will Hurt

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here's another change the Trump¹ administration wants - adding a citizenship² question to the 2020 census³. The Supreme⁴ Court heard oral arguments on the matter last month, and a decision in the case is expected by summer. Some critics of a question like this on the census are people who usually stay away from politically heated issues - business leaders. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang spoke⁵ with a few of them.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE⁶: Is this person a citizen of the United States? That's the question the Trump administration wants to ask next year of every person in every household in the country. But some companies are pushing back. They say that question could harm not only the 2020 census but also their bottom line.

CHRISTINE PIERCE: We don't view this as a political situation at all. We see this as one that is around sound research and good science.

LO WANG: Christine Pierce is the senior vice⁷ president of data science at Nielsen. That's the company that puts out TV ratings, which rely on census data collected by the government once a decade for the constitutionally mandated⁸ headcount. Pierce says asking about a sensitive topic like a person's citizenship status is likely to discourage some people from participating in the count.

PIERCE: If there is an undercount, that could carry through to our audience estimates and could mean that people will make decisions based on data that isn't as accurate as it should be.

LO WANG: The Trump administration says it wants citizenship data from the question to better enforce part of the Voting Rights Act. Researchers at the Census Bureau, however, recommended against the question, which they say would produce information that's less accurate and more expensive than existing government data. The issue is now before the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule by the end of June. Pierce says allowing the question to be added could risk the accuracy of census data tied to $90 billion in TV and video advertising⁹.

PIERCE: There's just no substitute for a good census and having that count be as thorough as possible.

ANTHONY FOXX: There's nothing else like it. There is nothing else like the census.

LO WANG: Anthony Foxx served as U.S. secretary of transportation during the Obama administration. He's now the chief policy officer for Lyft. The ride-hailing app filed a friend of the court brief against the citizenship question. Lyft, Foxx says, is worried that an inaccurate¹⁰ census could mean that some communities may not get their fair share in federal funding for roads and public transportation over the next 10 years.

FOXX: That is a direct impact on our business because it means that those roads will end up being more clogged¹¹ up, and those people will have a harder time getting around.

LO WANG: Lyft was joined in the court brief by its competitor, Uber, plus other big name brands like Levi's and Univision, where Jessica Herrera-Flanigan is executive vice president of government and corporate¹² affairs.

JESSICA HERRERA-FLANIGAN: This data that comes out of the census is not just some bureaucratic¹³ government data that sits in a vault¹⁴ somewhere that no one sees. It's actually data that affects our day-to-day lives.

LO WANG: Herrera-Flanigan is concerned including the citizenship question could lead to an undercount of Latinx residents. Census Bureau research suggests the question could discourage Latinos and Latinas from responding. Still, Herrera-Flanigan says, Univision is talking up next year's census on TV shows like "Pequenos Gigantes."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEQUENOS GIGANTES")

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Speaking Spanish).

HERRERA-FLANIGAN: These cute kids were talking and saying, it's this. It's this. And then finally, one young man announces...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEQUENOS GIGANTES")

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Speaking Spanish).

HERRERA-FLANIGAN: Whatever it is, just participate. Regardless of what happens in the courts, we're going to be pushing people to know about the importance of the census and actually do it. And that's a - it's a big lift.

LO WANG: It's also tricky¹⁵ ground for businesses to navigate¹⁶, especially after President Trump tweeted last month his support of the citizenship question, saying, quote, "the American people deserve to know who is in this country." Census Bureau official Burton Reist recently noted¹⁷ the bureau is running into hurdles¹⁸ trying to recruit businesses to promote the census.

BURTON REIST: So we had a meeting with McDonald's, but that was a year ago. And we've had a hard time getting anything to come from it.

LO WANG: An adviser¹⁹ to the Census Bureau, Arturo Vargas of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said business leaders have told him they're reluctant to promote a census that has become so politicized.

ARTURO VARGAS: This is now something that, even though it's such a fundamental aspect of our democracy, that they themselves are not willing to be associated with something that is so controversial now.

LO WANG: The Census Bureau says so far, they have a promotional partnership²⁰ underway with Smucker's. NPR has confirmed the bureau is also in discussions with Procter & Gamble. And a spokesperson from McDonald's says after speaking with their bureau early last year, the company has not made any decisions about the 2020 census.

Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY SINGS SONG, "PASSIONFRUIT")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

11 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

12 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

13 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

14 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

15 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

16 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

19 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

20 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。