Re: Initial Proposals For Updating OMB’s Race and Ethnicity Standards

Advancing Justice has been working to eliminate the barriers that have historically resulted in 
the undercounting and underreporting of Asian Americans and NHPIs in federal data collection
and analysis efforts, particularly in the decennial census count. Advancing Justice has 
conducted comprehensive national, state, and local outreach as well as educational projects 
focused on Asian American and NHPI communities for Census 2000, Census 2010, and Census 
2020. Advancing Justice – AAJC recently published a report, Quality of the Decennial Census for 
Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities, which highlighted how 
our communities remain hard to count and are likely to be missed in federal data collection 
efforts. Ensuring our communities “see” themselves in how race and ethnic data are collected is 
an important aspect of our advocacy and engagement on data collection and reporting. We 
consider a fair and accurate census and American Community Survey (ACS) among the most 
significant civil rights issues facing the country today. We appreciate the importance of fact-based analyses for identifying disparate access and outcomes and devising effective solutions.