As I position myself in the larger context of the Asian Pacific narrative, I find myself woven into a complicated history of United States imperialism, repossessing my Pasifika identity an ocean away from my ancestral lands. The Asian Pacific American community, still made up largely of immigrant and first/second generation families like my own, has been at a crossroad of racial tension trying to navigate the American Dream. My parents entered the country as noncitizen nationals, and years later I am piecing together what exactly this dream is that my family has followed.
I am a first generation Samoan woman. My intersecting identities are a source of power for me, a channeled connection I share with my ancestors, my family, the larger Pacific Islander community. I think often about the legacy I am leaving for future generations, and what I’m doing to ensure they are taken care of.
This process is made difficult by living in the United States, where the diversity of my community can be manipulated into a systemic barrier rather than a source of collective empowerment. Enacted under the Constitution, the decennial Census is an influential tool used to inform funding allocations totaling over $1.5 trillion between states, cities, and local entities within them. Getting an accurate count of our communities is essential to making sure this money is put towards the programs the AAPI community relies on, including Medicaid (benefiting 26% AA, 37% NHPI), Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies (over 1 million API students), and SNAP (7% AA, 23% NHPI) to name a few.
The Census is a powerful testament to the racialization of the APA narrative and cyclical patterns of resource funneling away from APA communities. Moreso, it is an example of how our identities and the diversity of our experiences can be used against us without proper representation. While this is a difficult conversation to have, I make sure to have it anyway because it constitutes an important role in my family’s healing. Navigating American and colonial structures does not mean we have to compromise our own languages, beliefs, and values.
We are, “the hard to count” because the Census is not made accessible enough to the APA community, not yet at least. Where the government has failed, organizations like EPIC (Empowering Pacific Islander Communities) and AAAJ (Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles) have worked relentlessly to provide language support for AAPI families to better understand the Census and population demographics in a way that is culturally relevant to our growing communities. These community-based endeavors only accentuate why our participation in the Census is critical for ensuring future generations can be counted and represented accurately.
This is not simply a civic duty to the government, it is a consolidated effort for community autonomy and visibility. There is so much potential held in having every single member of our community counted in the Census. It is an opportunity to put AAPI voices on the frontlines where they can be amplified on a national scale, for mobility out of these hard to count tracts. The Asian American and NHPI populations are the fastest growing in the nation, and should be reflected in the resources distributed to our communities. This is a reassertion of my commitment to having my people counted.
Please access more information below on how to support APA communities and to get us counted!
http://www.georgetownpoverty.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Fact-Sheet-AA-NHPI-HTC.pdf https://www.countusin2020.org/nhpi