Groups urge better census count of African-Americans in 2010 - CNN.com: Washington (CNN) -- Civil rights leaders Wednesday lobbied Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and top Census Bureau officials to press for a better count of African-Americans in the 2010 census.
The U.S. government already plans a nearly $200 million advertising campaign aimed at getting people to respond to the census, which is used to set congressional and legislative districts and allocate federal funds. But National Urban League President Marc Morial said more needs to be done to make sure underrepresented communities are included.
'My takeaway from the meeting is that the secretary listened intently and took our concerns very seriously,' Morial told reporters after the meeting. But he added, 'We still feel there are important, significant steps that need to be taken to ensure that there is a complete count in the 2010 census.'
Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP, said the 2000 census undercounted African-Americans by nearly 3 percent. He said the Census Bureau needs to hire more black managers and subcontractors so 'the firms that know these communities best are calling the shots.'
