Messaging Advice for the Census Bureau

In the 1980s, I was an American diplomat assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Casablanca, Morocco. At that time, King Hassan II was coordinating a “voluntary” campaign to fund the building of the Hassan II Mosque on the Mediterranean coast. The monarch wanted to build the largest mosque in Africa. In 1986, work began on it. Although the King told Moroccans he could pay for it himself (along with his government), he said it would be selfish if he did so. In an address to the nation, he told Moroccans that he wanted them to participate with him in the construction of this magnificent edifice. He told them that no one would be forced to contribute money and that the program would be purely voluntary. He said it would unite the country in this tremendous endeavor to make a beautiful Islamic monument that would be the envy of every nation. And so began a massive campaign to collect “contributions” from businesses, schools, and just average Moroccan subjects of the king.

It took seven years, and in 1993, the Hassan II Mosque was inaugurated in Casablanca. For a time, it was the largest mosque in Africa. But a few years ago, Algeria opened the Great Mosque of Algiers, which is now the largest on the continent, spanning nearly 70 acres. Today, Moroccans take pride in the Hassan II Mosque on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. But few Moroccans think back fondly to how they were pressured to pay for it. Many families never recovered from the brutal tactics employed by Moroccan police to exact contributions.