Despite the useful information census data provides, and the federal dollars that flow to the state as a result of the census, there is reason to not be supportive of the U. S. census. The Addison Independent did an admirable job recently reporting on the general suspicion a lot of Vermonters have concerning the U.S. Government’s promise to not use census data for any other purpose. This is because similar promises were expressed by the U.S. federal government in the 1930s and 1940s, and yet U.S. census data was used to round up Japanese Americans and place them in internment camps during World War II. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that our government is any more trustworthy today as it was back then.
Ross Conrad
Middlebury