A historical examination of the Black census undercount as a transnational civil rights issue

US census taking is more accurate today than when the practice was implemented over two centuries ago—yet, then and now, Black residents are undercounted. A true census count of a population by race provides concrete data about racial hierarchies and exclusion. Without it, systemic racism is rendered invisible. In this sharp analysis, renowned civil rights law expert Tanya Katerí Hernández argues that census taking is inherently political—and that an accurate count of Blackness is crucial to the pursuit of racial equality and effective democracies.

This book reveals deeply embedded institutional racism that extends far beyond US boundaries and the country’s racial history. Governmental anti-Blackness in Latin America, Europe, and elsewhere has resulted in a civil rights crisis for Black people across the African Diaspora. Told through stories of civil rights activists and grassroots organizers, interviews with these important stakeholders, and accounts of relevant census inclusion campaigns, this book traces:

The transnational histories of undercounting Blackness on the census
The civil rights crisis the contemporary undercount presents for the pursuit of equality and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws
The international human rights tools for addressing the undercount

The Global Erasure of Blackness chronicles the ongoing struggle for accurate census counts of Afro-descendants, revealing a critical failure-by-design that we must address as we pursue an equitable, multiracial democracy.