Residents of U.S. Territories—American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are not equally represented in critical federal data collections in comparison to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Federal statistical products are essential to meeting the needs of people in the territories, from education to health care to emergency preparedness. Policymakers, researchers, and others cannot fully understand the social, environmental, and economic challenges residents of U.S. territories face without timely and accurate data. The missing statistical information about U.S. territories is a racial justice and equity issue. The vast majority of the 3.6 million people in U.S. territories are people of color. Inequality in data collection programs reflects and sometimes deepens discrimination against these communities of color.
Analyze the inequality in the representation of U.S. territories Department of State in federal data collections and identify social, environmental and economic implications for its residents.