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MargoAnderson and WilliamSeltzerUse and Misuse of the United States Census: The Role of Data in the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War IISpringer, 2024, 230 p., $44.99

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This book's subtitle should actually be its title.It is not a general consideration of proper census use or set of examples of use and misuse of the census.It is focused almost exclusively on the use of 1940 U.S. Census data in the identification of Japanese citizens and those of Japanese background (race is recorded as Japanese in the 1940 Census) for the purpose of mass incarceration.The book spotlights how geopolitical moments, perceived threats to national security, and accompanying popular politics can place strain on data custodians even at the highest level.The authors demonstrate the specific characters, relationships and legal mechanisms that led to the U.S. 1940 Census breach.Following the issuance of Executive Order 9066 that authorized the forced evacuation and rehousing of anyone living in a military area who could present a threat to national security, over 120,000 Japanese Americans-more than half of whom were American citizens-were moved out of their homes and contained in ten incarceration camps.There are many terrible aspects of this incarceration of Japanese Americans, including the conditions in which people were held and the loss of houses, businesses, and other property, but this book deals specifically with the role of the 1940 Census data in enabling authorities to identify and locate all citizens of Japanese background.Anderson and Seltzer are a well-qualified team to elucidate violations of the law, unethical actions, and actors on various sides of this policy debate regarding the illegal appropriation of US Census data.Anderson is the author of a highly regarded history of the US Census, and Seltzer held important positions at the US Census Bureau, the Population Council, and the United Nations as a statistician and demographer and specializes in the use of population data systems in facilitating human rights abuse.This book will be of interest to demographers, historians, and parties interested in human rights as well as those interested in data privacy, the integrity of official statistics, governmental integrity, and public trust.Suspicion of citizens of an enemy country during time of war is common, and there was consideration of detaining German and Italian citizens during the Second World War, but this was never implemented.
DOI: 10.1111/padr.70038
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W4416445118
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