Community Leaders Met at Bronx St. Nicholas Tolentine Church

The Dominican American National Roundtable -DANR- announced the launching of the national awareness campaign “Uno Más Uno”(One Plus One) with the first Town Hall meeting at the Bronx St. Nicholas Tolentine Church, at 2345 University Avenue.

Some participants of the town hall Meeting denoting with their index fingers extended the theme of the DANR’s national awareness campaign Uno Más Uno/One Plus One (Photo by Eduardo Hoepelman).

The “Uno más Uno” campaign is a DANR broad public effort in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to highlight the fact that Dominicans are not properly counted by the U.S. Census and to demand the inclusion of a category checkbox to respond to the question of nationality in the Census form, along with Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and others.

“It’s inconceivable and detrimental to our community that the Dominican presence in the United States is not properly reflected by the Census,” said DANR president Nestor Montilla. “The second largest immigrant group should have its own nationality box, as do Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans.”

Since resources are distributed according to official demographical data, the undercounting of the Dominican population in the U.S. Census diminishes the possibilities of this community getting its fair share in the areas of education, health care, economic development, and political representation. Currently Dominicans must check the general “Hispanic” checkbox or the “Other” checkbox or write-in their nationality in the Census forms, which has proven to be very confusing.

For more than a decade, DANR has been lobbying among legislators and decision makers in the U.S. to ask for their help in bringing the Dominican population to light through the U.S. Census.

“We are bringing hundreds of people to Washington on June 23rd this year to ask Congress to assist in an accurate count of Dominicans in the Census,” continued Montilla.

A bill to create a Dominican nationality checkbox was recently introduced in the Senate by US Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and in U.S Congress by Harlem and Northern Manhattan U.S. Representative Charles Rangel.

“It’s time to make sure all New Yorkers are counted fairly and accurately in the census,” said US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “New York’s Dominican community contributes so much to our economy, our diverse culture and our way of life in New York. Ignoring these contributions in our census data is wrong and prevents us from obtaining a true picture of the people, families and communities of our state. It’s time to make this important change.”

Congressman Charles Rangel said: “The Census has a huge effect on how services are determined and how money is distributed to communities, not just by the various levels of government, but also private foundations and other grant makers. We owe it to the Dominican community — all communities –to do all that we can to assure an accurate count. This bill helps do that.”

According to an 1199 SEIU-DANR study about Dominican Voter Capacity, Dominicans reside in all 437 Congressional Districts, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. An estimated number of the population tells us that by 2010 there will be 1,920,831 Dominicans living in the US, including 825,957 Dominican adults. Dominicans are already the third largest Hispanic group in the US, following Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, and the second largest immigrant group.

Hon. Julissa Ferreras, Queens Councilwoman and member of the DANR National Board of Directors at the DANR Bronx Town Hall Meeting.

The Bronx Town Hall meeting featured several speakers, including Gate Millennium Scholars representatives, Nelson Valdez, Vice President of 1199 SEIU, Ligia Jacques, U.S Census Regional Deputy Director, and president Montilla. Also attending was Assemblyman Nelson Castro; Bronx District Leader Hector Ramirez, Queens Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, Allentown, PA councilmember Julio Guridy.

President Montilla and the DANR Board of Directors are encouraging all community leaders, elected officials and the general public to join the DANR national effort to make Dominicans count in the United States.

Ligia Jacques, U.S Census Regional Deputy Director, at the DANR’s First Bronx Town Hall Meeting.

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