life-of-a-new-dm

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[khalilhumam]

Trump’s new plan to hijack the census will imperil America’s future

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/trumps-new-plan-to-hijack-the-census-will-imperil-americas-future/

Trump’s new plan to hijack the census will imperil America’s future

By William H. Frey If Donald Trump winds up as a one-term president—which current polling suggests will be the case—he seems determined to go out with a final blow in his war against the nation’s changing demography. This time, he has set his sights on the Census Bureau, as it struggles to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and complete its once-in-a-decade headcount that is vital to our democracy. Two weeks ago, the Trump administration issued a memorandum seeking to remove undocumented immigrants (“illegal aliens” in the memo’s words) from the census headcount that serves as the basis for reapportioning House of Representatives members among states. Then, on Monday, the Census Bureau announced that they would be cutting short the headcount by a month. In both cases, these changes will result in an undercount of demographic groups that are not part of Trump’s political base. The plan to omit undocumented immigrants for congressional reapportionment falls in line with the administration’s failed proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. After the ruling, Trump ordered the development of a database—using federal sources such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration—which could be used to identify undocumented immigrants. Trump’s memorandum is already being challenged in court on the basis that it flies in the face of the U.S. Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment, which indicates that congressional reapportionment should be based on the count of “whole numbers of persons” in each state. It is also questionable if Trump’s “illegal alien” database can be accurately compiled by the time reapportionment numbers are required. Demographers Amanda K. Baumle and Dudley L. Poston, Jr. estimate that if Trump were to succeed in subtracting undocumented immigrants from congressional reapportionment, the racially diverse states of Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas would each lose one House seat, while Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, and Ohio would gain seats. While three of the states that would lose a seat voted for Trump in 2016, each of those is poised to continue diversifying and could trend Democratic in 2020 or beyond. Beyond the impact on congressional reapportionment, Trump’s memo sends the signal that his administration will continue to attack undocumented immigrants and their families. As would have been the case with a citizenship question, this will have the effect of making immigrant and mixed-status households fearful of being counted in the census. This fear has been well documented in surveys by the Census Bureau, the Urban Institute, and others. Census Bureau research has shown that between 5.8% and 8% of households containing noncitizens would not respond to the census if it included a citizenship question. The new Trump directive could drive similar fears in such households, which are heavily represented in Latino or Hispanic and Asian American populations. The second last-minute surprise was a White House-influenced decision by the Census Bureau to cut back on their original plan to extend the census count’s follow-up period to October 31. The original plan—announced on April 13 by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham—was carefully conceived to take public safety concerns into account amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making necessary adjustments to ensure the best possible follow-up process for census non-respondents. Given this extension, it also requested that Congress approve a delay in the mandated reporting of census results to the president from December 31, 2020 to April 30, 2021. Despite initial support from Trump and the House of Representatives, the Census Bureau—apparently under pressure from the White House—has abruptly shortened its timeline. On August 3, the Bureau announced its intention to end all follow-up activities by September 30 and report the results to the president by December 31. This move has been criticized by many experts, including four former Census Bureau directors who served under Republican and Democratic presidents. It also contradicts past statements by Bureau personnel that emphasized the impossibility of completing the census with enough time to report results to the president by the end of 2020. The now-rushed end date—reportedly to accommodate Trump’s insistence to have reapportionment numbers while he is still in office—places a huge burden on the Bureau’s staff. This involves effectively enumerating hard-to-count populations who have not responded to earlier requests, those who have moved during the pandemic, the homeless, residents of dormitories, rural residents, and Native American reservations that have always taken extra efforts to reach. The New York Times estimates that during this period, 60 million households will need to be contacted, in comparison to 47 million at this stage of the 2010 census. Racial minorities are a large part of this hard-to-count population, and they will likely be undercounted even worse than in earlier censuses if Trump’s directives remain. These include Latino or Hispanic, Black, American Indian, and Asian American populations. If previous censuses are a guide, members of these groups who are low-income, renters, small children, young adults, or foreign-born will be particularly hard to reach. Moreover, given the time crunch, the Census Bureau may be forced to statistically estimate (to a far larger degree than in earlier censuses) information for households that cannot be contacted. This process can lead to even greater undercounts of racial minorities compared to whites.

The undercounting of people of color would have long-lasting effects on the nation because of the many ways the census will be used over the next decade.

The undercounting of people of color would have long-lasting effects on the nation because of the many ways the census will be used over the next decade. In addition to reapportioning members of the House of Representatives, census results are used to draw legislative districts within states and allocate trillions of dollars in state and federal funds. The census also forms the sampling frame for thousands of surveys that impact decisionmaking over the next 10 years. All of these uses have long-term effects on public and private investments in communities—and particularly, communities of color. The U.S. now stands at a pivotal period with respect to race. Recent analyses show that the nation’s younger generations are the most racially diverse ever, with nonwhite racial groups accounting for more than half of all births and persons ages under 16. Because the white population is aging and declining in number among younger age groups, it is important that the 2020 census reflects the full diversity of the country’s youth. This will ensure that younger people of color and their families get their due in how political decisions are made, how funding gets allocated, and where schools, housing, hospitals, and employment sites are located. Investments in this young, diverse generation are critical for their—and the nation’s—future. We will all pay a huge price if they are undercounted in a flawed census. If it isn’t stopped, the Trump administration’s last-ditch effort to hijack the 2020 census will have devastating, long-term consequences for the nation, especially its youth. Let us hope that Congress and the judicial system intervene in time to save this vital government institution.

[reddirtramblings]

On our last day in Austin, we visited several wonderful gardens. but the first stop for my bus was Lucinda Hutson’s garden, forever recognizable by her purple house. Bill and I visited Lucinda in 2014, but I wasn’t able to write a post about her lovely casita then–I was overwhelmed promoting my book–so I’m going to rectify that now.

As always, click on the photos in the gallery to make them larger and get the full effect. Believe me, for Lucinda’s garden, you want the full effect.

Lucinda Hutson’ purple casita has rosemary hedges out front. I wonder if they are the type of rosemary that blooms blue? Or, are do they bloom white?

Small seating are out front. I notice Kylee Baumle in this photo, but with everyone else’s hats and cameras in front, I’m not sure about the others.

Broken pottery mulch at the bottom of the centerpiece tree. Lucinda doesn’t waste an inch of space.

Lucinda is a treasure and one of my favorite people. She is a lifestyle writer, cookbook author, and speaker. If you love tequila, you should buy her newest book, ¡Viva Tequila!: Cocktails, Cooking, and Other Agave Adventures published by the University of Texas Press. The bloggers had the opportunity to buy the books at the Garden Bloggers Fling closing party and also, to try two of the drinks in the book, a Texican martini, and a Paloma. Both were really good. I personally like reposado tequila myself so I liked the martini best. That chili-spiced salt on the rim was inspired. Sorry I didn’t take a picture!

The photos, below, are mostly of her backyard. It isn’t a huge garden, but it is packed full of curated vignettes.

Tile work along the top of the shed.

Lucinda’s writing room.

Inside Lucinda Hutson’s writing room.

I wonder what the Spanish word for vignette is? Ah, viñeta! Of course!

The gate to the cantina garden.

Huge Swiss chard in Lucinda’s kitchen garden.

Cobalt pots holding begonias perfectly grown.

I think what makes Lucinda’s garden work so well is her innate sense of color. She tends to use pink, purple, turquoise and occasionally, yellow. Then, she takes similar plants and pots them up in Talavera pottery or uses similar pots in different primary colors. I wish I had her skill.

Perfectly placed pots on a small table. Lucinda has an ability to bring diverse items together by using color, or a them, or similar pots or plants. I wish I had the same.

Succulents in Talavera pottery. Luckily, for Oklahomans, we now have access to Talavera pottery too. I love the pumpkins and witches myself.

Lucinda’s vegetable garden is full of bold colors and happy plants.

Agaves along a wall in the back garden.

A shady spot for reflection with a purple chair of course! This is in the front yar.

Lucinda has a joy that spills over into every contact with her. I’m so glad she allowed her garden and home to be on tour for the garden bloggers. Nothing was off limits, and what a fantastic place her purple casita truly is. Lucinda grew up in El Paso and is fluent in Spanish. In fact, when she talks, she mixes Spanish and English together with the most beautiful accent. I love to listen to her voice. Check out this episode of Central Texas Gardener to hear Lucinda. There is also a tour of her garden on another episode.

Below are just a few of the pictures I took inside Lucinda’s house. Because I enjoy Mexican culture so much, I love her collections especially her Santos–Saints–and El Día de los Muertos–Day of the Dead memorabilia.  She’s traveled extensively throughout Mexico so she has treasured pieces from her journeys.

Tiled steps Lucinda calls her “stairway to heaven” and Our Lady of Guadalupe inside the back door. Lucinda loves Madonnas which are a large part of Mexican culture. Our Lady of Guadalupe is very revered in Mexico.

Some of Lucinda’s Day of the Dead–El Día de los Muertos. Lucinda’s friend told us Lucinda celebrates the Day of the Dead with feasting for her relatives and friends.

Check out the agave glasses on this little bar or altar in Lucinda’s living room. I love those!

This is only a taste of Lucinda’s lovely garden and home. I hope you’ll buy her beautiful book if you like tequila. It has even more history of how important agave is to Mexican culture. In Oklahoma, we’re pretty fond of it too.  Thank you, Lucinda, for having us over. It was a morning I’ll never forget.

Lucinda Hutson’s garden On our last day in Austin, we visited several wonderful gardens. but the first stop for my bus was…

[anniekoh]

american sociological association 2017 (fri & sat)

Having promised to defend my dissertation in (gulp) 2 months, I did not tag along with the spouse to ASA in Montreal. Being a giant nerd who adores academic conferences, I looked through the program anyway.

FRIDAY

Fri, August 11, 5:30 to 7:00pm The Indignity of Reconciliation: The Experience of First Nations in Canada, Audra Simpson  - Opening Plenary Session. Dignity and the Bridging of Group Boundaries 

Reconciliation” has achieved a seemingly unquestioned status in Canada as the good thing that is to usher in the better thing that will be. That “better thing” is a repaired past, a better future, and an ethical and balanced present. This notion emerged from three decades of overt and unambiguous Indigenous foment, resistance, and refusal in the face of neoliberal and dispossessive settlement and statecraft, embodied by the former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. His government introduced simultaneously official “reconciliation” and violent resource extraction. The discourse of repair was inaugurated by an official apology for one state violence, that of Indian residential schools. It now finds its way into legal decisions on land rights (Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, 2014) and institutionalized spaces of listening (The Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2008-2014). It also circulates through various publics with different meanings. Although multi-vocal, this discourse seeks to harmonize and balance a fundamental disjuncture between a sovereign state, unwilling to rescind its (false) claims to Indigenous land and life, and Indigenous struggles for land and life (as sovereignty). I examine the ways in which “reconciliation” seeks to repair or perhaps subvert and mask the problem of historical and ethical impasse and injury. I illustrate my argument with ethnographic conversations conducted with those who stand in active critical, ethical, and political relationship to the project of reconciliation.

SATURDAY

Sat, August 12, 10:30am to 12:10pm Black Women and the Subversive Occupation of Digital Space, Leslie Jones in - Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology. Race, Social Movements and Digital Media Technologies

On Twitter, Black women are influencing the way that massive audiences think about the role of race in society, the relationship between race and gender, and the ownership that Black women have over their own intellectual labor. Their ideas are incorporated into mainstream media, where they have the potential to influence the discourse surrounding these issues beyond the individuals who have self-selected into their networks of influence. This chapter provides a brief topography of the ecosystem of Twitter, an online social networking website where Black women have carved out space to publicly cultivate their ideas. It also provides insight into the ways that these women engage in public intellectual work, one-hundred forty characters at a time.

Sat, August 12, 10:30am to 12:10pm Who Owns the Co-op? Race, Class, and Symbolic Boundaries at a Food Co-operative, Sonia Moss - Section on Consumers and Consumption. Race, Ethnicity and Inequality in Consumer Culture 

Rising public interest in alternative agrifood systems like farmers’ markets and food cooperatives, has led to studies examining the stratification of access to and engagement with these movements. Some scholars conclude that many urban food spaces ultimately appeal to white elites. However, there is a gap in the literature examining the micro-processes that contribute to racially and economically homogenous consumers. This ethnographic case-study draws up ten months of participant/observation and in-depth interviews with members of a food co-operative in a large, Northeastern city to understand the mechanisms which reproduce a majority white and middle-class clientele in a majority black and mixed-income neighborhood. The study found that symbolic boundaries are deployed institutionally, materially, and interpersonally to privilege access and experience of white, middle-class shoppers. These findings suggest that inattention to symbolic and material racialized dynamics will result in exclusion of marginalized groups.

Sat, August 12, 2:30 to 4:10pm Bringing Citizenship to Market: How to Sell a Quasi-Sacred Status, Kristin Surak in Regular Session. Citizenship: Shifting Grounds of Entitlement

What explains the rapid rise of citizenship by investment programs and what are the implications for citizenship more broadly? Moving beyond the largely theoretical economic and normative scholarship on the sale of citizenship, this article draws on two years of fieldwork to explain how citizenship has become marketized. The analysis situates citizenship by investment programs within a broader field encompassing immigrant investor visas and discretionary economic citizenship. It shows how this field conditioned the development and spread of formal programs, and the role of industry actors, geopolitical inequalities, and extra-territorial rights in this transformation. Service providers retooled murky discretionary channels in the Global South into formal citizenship by investment schemes, which could be offered as residence planning tools alongside the investor visas available in core countries. A drive for legitimation has kept pace with the rise of the industry because the product’s value is contingent upon the privileges it secures in third countries, which hold significant power over the programs. The paper concludes by discussing two implications for our understanding of citizenship more broadly: the role of strategic action in making choices about a quasi-sacred status, and the role of third-party actors in both bringing citizenship to market and legitimating its commodification.

Sat, August 12, 2:30 to 4:10pm Walking through Memory: An Architectural Phenomenology of Collective Memory at Memorials, Stephanie Pena-Alves in Regular Session. Collective Memory II: The Aesthetics and Materiality of Memory

In this study, I employ an architectural phenomenology of memorial sites to examine how the physical structure of memorials shapes individual experiences of remembering a collective past. I explore four sites to ground my investigation: the Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, La Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) in Dakar, Senegal, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., and the National September 11 Memorial in New York City. Drawing on photographs and publicly available online visitor testimonies, I analyze the ways in which mnemonic experiences are effectively enabled and constrained both physically and symbolically by the structural characteristics of openness and closure at memorials. Analyzing the physical design alongside visitor narratives allows me to theorize what I term "mnemonic trajectories," physical designs that facilitate particular movements, experiences, and meanings in memorial spaces, while simultaneously denying others. I find that the physical structure of memorials not only shapes the grounded experience of remembering at the site, but that particular structures – be they walls, doors, tunnels, or holes, to name but a few – also serve as metaphorical structures around which individuals narrate their collective past. Ultimately, my comparative approach reveals that materiality, while an important element of collective remembering, is not sufficient to convey mnemonic meanings; social groups shape meanings of material structures at memorial sites. Thus, no structural feature necessarily signifies the same concepts in all contexts.

Sat, August 12, 2:30 to 4:10pm Author Meets Critics Session. Legalizing LGBT Families: How the Law Shapes Parenthood (NYU Press, 2015) by Amanda K. Baumle and D’Lane R. Compton, 

In this book, Baumle and Compton examine how LGBT individuals use the law when making decisions about family formation and parenting. They draw on interview data with 137 LGBT parents from across the United States to examine the many, varied ways in which the law is embraced, manipulated, modified, and rejected by those seeking to create and protect families within a heteronormative legal system. Given the inconsistency of state and local laws, few groups encounter as much variation in access to everyday rights as they pertain to the family. This variation allows for a nuanced examination of the manner in which legal context affects the ways in which individuals come to understand the meaning and utility of the law for their lives. Baumle and Compton develop a theory of legal consciousness in which LGBT parents are active recipients of cultural schemas about legality, including those of being before, with, and against the law. Which schema prevails is determined by a complex interplay between legal context, social networks, individual characteristics, and familial desires. This author meets critic panel beings Baumle and Compton into conversation with several prominent scholars working at the intersections of family, sexuality, and the law.

Sat, August 12, 2:30 to 3:30pm Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements

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