W.K. Kellogg Foundation Statement On Supreme Court Ruling On Citizenship Question For 2020 Census

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Jun 28, 2019, 07:35 ET

BATTLE CREEK, Mich., June 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Children are at the heart of everything we do at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. But we know that for children to thrive, their communities need to be equitable places of opportunity. For that reason, and on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children and families in our priority places (Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans), as well as other hard-to-count communities across our country, we affirm our steadfast commitment to a fair and accurate decennial count.

All people in the U.S., no matter where they come from, are our neighbors and should be counted. The inclusion of a citizenship question only perpetuates false narratives and singles out immigrants – fueling the bias, division and fear that threaten children and families in our communities. These are people who contribute, create and lead in our communities. The possibility of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census severely undermines the efforts of civic leaders, administrators, teachers, health care providers and other nonprofit organizations to ensure all children thrive.

With the Supreme Court's return of the case to the lower courts, regardless of the decision, we are working alongside our many philanthropic, grantee and partner organizations to ensure full participation in the 2020 Census, with a focus on children under age 5 — one of the most undercounted groups — also seniors, renters, non-English speakers and immigrants, people of color, Native Americans, people living in poverty and people experiencing homelessness.

The consequences of a diminished count would perpetuate non-equitable allocations of critically needed federal funds and services – a catastrophic outcome for generations of children. Every child, every family and every community deserves their fair share of support for education, medical care, infrastructure, economic development and the arts.

When everyone counts, everyone thrives.

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The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. To learn more, visit www.wkkf.org or follow WKKF on Twitter at @wk_kellogg_fdn.

SOURCE W.K. Kellogg Foundation