Tightrope of advocacy: Critical race methods as a lens on nonprofit mediation between fear and trust in the U.S. Census

Abstract

In this study of nonprofit engagement with the census, we argue for an expansion of the research toolbox to include critical race methods as an essential lens on public and nonprofit administration. By foregrounding race and racism, illuminating power structures and discourses, and centering the knowledge and practices of nonprofit staff as street-level workers, critical race methods reveal the processes of construction that shape and influence a seemingly objective count and highlight the roles that staff play as mediators in the conflicts between fear and trust that are inherent to racial governance in the United States.