Do you consider yourself lazy or ignorant, or both?

Those are two of the reasons given to explain why some Limestone Countians may not participate in Census 2020. Don’t feel bad, though, the folks in Calhoun and Hale counties were also deemed too lazy or too ignorant, or both, to complete the census.

So who’s calling us names? The offending information can be found in a report released last week by The Alabama Counts! 2020 Census Committee. The information for the report, so they claim, was gathered through interviewing residents in all 67 counties.

We take no issue with the fact there may indeed be lazy and/or ignorant folks in Limestone County. There are lazy and/or ignorant people in every county, whether a report says so or not.

The assertion still stings, however, considering we were one of only three counties to be slapped with that deterrent. We don’t know who the fact-finders behind the report interviewed, but it was clearly not the average county resident.

An al.com article published last year claims Huntsville ranks fifth statewide for the number of PhDs, followed by the Auburn-Opelika area, Troy, Tuskegee and Tuscaloosa. A fair number of Huntsville’s PhDs call Limestone County home, as do NASA retirees and high-ranking officials at dozens of military contractors in Huntsville. It would be a mistake to call any of them lazy or ignorant.

Thousands more of us are either active or retired military, teachers, college professors, engineers, farmers, nuclear plant operators, doctors, nurses, attorneys, accountants, managers, electricians, plumbers, welders, computer programmers, bankers and law enforcement officers. Which one of these groups is ignorant and/or lazy?

Limestone Countians should show the Alabama Counts! 2020 Census Committee how wrong it is by leading the state in census participation. We know that’s probably a bit of a pipe dream, but why not?

Judging by our poll above, it’s clear some people won’t respond to the census. For some, it would be a near-impossibility to complete the information on their own because of health issues or language barriers. There are also the anti-government types who don’t want the U.S. Census Bureau knowing anything about them or their family.

Still, as The News Courier has reported recently, we stand to lose federal dollars if we don’t participate. You may be personally against so-called government “entitlement” programs,but federal programs do much more than support elderly and indigent people. Federal money also educates our children, keeps us safe and builds and repairs our roads.

Also, Alabama could lose up to two congressional representatives if we show a population loss since the last census. Are we willing to give up our representation to another state that may not share Alabama’s values just because we failed to answer a few questions. It’s also worth noting the 2020 census is the first that can be completed online. You can also visit 2020census.gov for more information.

We certainly hope the assertion that you’re either too lazy and/or ignorant motivates you to complete the 2020 census. Our education, safety, roads and representation may depend on it.