Count us in: The promise and perils of the U.S. Census in Nevada

Exit Spring Mountain

The U.S. Constitution mandates a Census every 10 years—it's how we allocate seats in the House of Representatives (Nevada gained a fourth seat in 2010 after the Census showed our relative population increase) and how we determine federal funding for housing, education, and health. For each Nevadan who isn't counted, whether a citizen or not, our state loses out on $10–12,000 in funding over the course of a decade. So how did local organizations reach out to AAPI communities to ensure an accurate count? How did the Census influence redistricting in 2021, and how did that impact AAPI communities in Southern Nevada?

Despite its impact, the Census is perhaps an imperfect tool—people don't usually fit into neat little boxes. So why is the race question fraught for so many people, how can data about "AAPI" groups obscure the experiences of Pacific Islanders, and how does the Census reflect America's shifting views about race?

In this episode, we speak with artist and UNLV Professor Tiffany Lin whose census-based community art project can be viewed at https://24views.org/ ; Eric Jeng, Director of Outreach at the Asian Community Development Council; Thalia Melville, a student at UNLV; and Kristine Espinoza, a UNLV PhD candidate studying race-conscious higher education law and policies.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.