Here’s to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Brooklyn’s finest recently introduced a bill earlier this month that would help New York Blacks – specifically its Caribbean citizens – in being descriptively represented by the U.S. Census count next year.

The congresswoman introduced the Caribbean Count Bill or in political terms H.R. 2071. It would be a historic bill that calls for Caribbean nationals to have their own origins check box on the census form.

The bill also calls for all questionnaires used in the taking of any decennial census of the U.S. population, to include a checkbox or other similar option be included so that respondents may indicate Caribbean extraction or descent.

“Every household in the country will receive a census questionnaire in 2010, and now is the time to stand up and be counted,” Clarke said. “We want to ensure an accurate and fair count of all populations at all geographic levels in the nation, so I am encouraging everyone to fill out the entire form and send it in. By completing your questionnaire you are providing data that will help your nation, your state and your community make major decisions over the next 10 years.”

Blacks here for decades have been complaining how unfair the census misrepresents the group.

And, they are right.

Compared to other ethnicities and nationalities in the United States, the identification of “Black” is not entirely broken down.

For instance, there are Cuban Americans, who consider themselves to be Afro-Cuban – an undeniable branch of being Black. The problem here is this formulation counts Black Hispanics as being Hispanic. Also, these persons are swayed to fill multiracial classifications rather than the one that’s more succinct to their true identity.

African immigrants, who hail from many countries on their home continent, are also a branch of Black, but unlike their Hispanic peers, which have their nationalities listed i.e. Mexican, Honduran, Chilean – the nationalities of our African brothers and sisters are not listed and or represented as well leaving many unwilling to fill out reports.

Aside from the census being better detailed and descriptive from this movement, Clarke’s bill is also important, because it draws attention to the significance of the 2010 U.S. Census to the Caribbean community. Census Day is less than a year away, and it’s important every household participate in order to ensure an accurate count.

Why? Because numbers and data accumulated by the census are used not only to determine voter representation, but also to help equitably distribute federal funding from a wide range of government programs.

“Respect comes from census numbers and until you are truly recognized and accurately counted by the U.S. Census, the growth of this vibrant group and its potential will never be truly realized,” said President and Founder of Carib ID, Felicia Persaud. “We see this as the first step in the battle to get this category, but one that is truly significant.”

With that said, let’s stand behind Clarke on her bill in hopes of a timely passage – we deserve to be counted.