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FRESNO, CA, USA—The federal White House Office of Management and Budget is asking for public comments on potential revisions to its 1997 standards for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data. All federal agencies must follow these standards.
This is extremely late notice, but the last day to submit public commentary is on Sunday, April 30, 2017.
On Monday, April 24th, two members of the Jakara Movement – Deep Singh and Jasjit Singh of Fresno met with Nicholas A. Jones, Director of Race & Ethnic Research and Outreach Population Division at the US Census Bureau. Director Jones mentioned that there is consideration to have a separate code for ‘Sikh’ under the ‘Asian Indian’ or ‘Other Asian’ category. While religion cannot be a category, there is some consideration being made for this category. It is being considered for a beta release in the 2018 American Community Survey and based on that will be evaluated for inclusion into the 2020 Census.
“We know there has been intermittent conversations within the Sikh-American community led by other Sikh organizations about inclusion of a ‘Sikh’ category in the past – specifically for the 2010 Census. Our point is not to lead this initiative, but rather to provide an opportunity for the Sikh community to express itself during this closing public commentary period. We have drafted an email template. We encourage you to use it and spread widely,” said Deep Singh, director of the Jakara Movement.
“You have until April 30 to tell OMB that you to be counted as a Sikh in the U.S. Census in 2020!,” he appealed in a press statement.
Please use this link or the following template to make your comments –
OMB-2016-0008
Minimum Categories: Support Detailed Ethnic GroupsTo the OMB Race and Ethnic Research and Outreach Division of the US Census Bureau:
I want to be counted!
The Sikhs of the United States have a very specific history in the U.S. that differs from many others groups, and deserves to be enumerated both part of and as a separate ethnic group from the overarching ‘Asian Indian’ racial category.
We are seeking a subcategorization of ‘Sikh’ with its own separate ethnic coding, just as is done for other South Asian groups, like Pakistanis, and other non-state groups, like the Hmongs.
Counting our detailed groups, like the ‘Sikhs’ is extremely critical so that we and other diverse communities can receive the services we need!
I support the addition of a ‘Sikh’ code as an ethnic category for Census 2020.
