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Spring/Summer 1990 Pleasant Grove-Texas

I took a position with the Census Bureau. My job was to take the census; I was assigned an area of Pleasant Grove with addresses and preliminary information on the family members who were listed as occupants of each residence. Out of my list of roughly 215 families/residences, maybe 10-15 of those residences had heads of households with Spanish/Latin/Mexican surnames.

After visiting three or four Latino families, I detected a pattern. The wife was home with their children (maybe 2 or 3, as shown on my documents for the household). Though she spoke English, it was invariably broken or hesitant accompanied by extensive head movement to indicate agreement or disagreement with my understanding of her response.

The majority of the 10-12 households I interviewed had between 5 and 8 additional people who were identified by the wife as relatives "visiting from home." When asked, they admitted "home" was Mexico, and that the relatives were there for a few weeks, sometimes for the summer. In none of my interviews did they say the relative lived in the respondent's home. A child of 6 or 7 years old answered the door at 3 or 4 homes I called on, informing me that their mothers were not home or were busy and that I had to come back later. Although I returned to each several times, by the end of time allotted for the survey I had still been unsuccessful in speaking with an adult.

The husband was away at work (usually the occupation listed was either skilled laborer, contract day laborer, maintenance/trash collection/miscellaneous domestic, auto mechanic, or gardener). Most said they didn't know the name or address of their husbands' employers. Most said they didn't know what their husbands' incomes were. Those who knew the answer to either question, were never certain in their responses. I got this eerie feeling that there was a script somewhere that each of these wives read to answer each question.

FAST FORWARD-5 to 6 Years Later

My suspicions during the Census interviews five or six years before were reported to my Bureau supervisor. She insisted that she would pass the incomplete interview forms along with my comments on to her upper line management. Whether she did or not, I cannot say. What I do know is that she unofficially replied that although we-the average American citizen could be fined for refusing to respond to the Census, Latinos would probably not have the same problems. She further said she agreed with my assessments, for

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