I was an enumerator in the 2000 census. I did my job well enough that they wanted to hire me for permanent work. I was assigned to re-do the work for the (mostly) young adults who falsified their reports to make a buck but not really do the work & got caught/fired. I worked w/ a rainbow of people, as well as enumerated neighborhoods which ethnically reflected all of us in our group of workers.
However, when I applied for the job this time, I was met by an all-ethnic management staff who gave preferential treatment to the ethnicity of their choice. For instance, those of their same race were put to the front of the line for paperwork despite being late for or having non-existent appointments. There were those who flunked the exam who were allowed to "correct" the exam.
There were also young girls who I watched & heard lie about their residence (thinking, mistakenly, that they had to live w/in the city boundaries in order to qualify) they purposely chose a census tract # w/in the city limits when they showed me they lived outside the city limits in a different tract # ! I was sitting under their armpits as they plotted their strategy on the map over my head in the cramped little room. If you lied about your tract #, it's obvious because it wouldn't match up w/your application address-- but if you claimed ignorance to cover your tracks--what good are you as a census taker/enumerator anyway?!?!?.
When the middle-aged white guys (and the two of us "gals") played by the rules, they were told, "Sorry--don't call us we'll call you." There were felons (they admitted it to the group) who were put through, and high school drop outs who could not read who were given the opportunity, but not college educated, stay-at-home mom's who had experience doing the job or white guys out of work.
I live in Northern Virginia an hour outside DC, but the last time I did the Census I was in Montgomery Co. Maryland where it is even more diverse than here. I didn't have any problems in Mo.Co. but WHAT'S UP W/THIS CENSUS?!?!