Originally published on LinkedIn September 5, 2021 here
If you recently started noticing a Middle Eastern/ North African (MENA) or Arab American option on US-based demographic questions, you are not alone! I recently posted a few examples of updated racial/ethnic questions from the American Bar Association, Anita Borg Institute, LinkedIn, and American Political Science Association that show how different organizations are gathering data on a much more diverse and multiracial US population, even before the Census confirmed similar results in their recent 2020 data release.
For many of MENA descent, including yours truly, this has been long overdue, as the options previously made available typically did not fully represent this community. Historically, the US government has included MENA within the White racial category, but advocacy groups have been working to change that so MENA can be recognized as its own racial/ethnic category, similar to Hispanic/Latinx.
There are several reasons for this, most obviously because the MENA community is diverse within itself, with many who identify as MENA representing multiple racial, ethnic, and religious groups, hailing from many countries of national origin. That’s why responding to the question “What are you?” is not always a simple task. For more on this, see Laila Abdel-Salam’s “‘What Are You?’ Racial Ambiguity, Belonging, and Well-Being Among Arab American Women.”
There are also generational differences on how some may have adopted the US government standards to identify as White, while younger generations are more likely to choose “Some other race,” if no other options seem suitable.
The reality is there are many dimensions to MENA identity that cut across racial, ethnic, religious, and national boundaries. The next time you hear someone only reference one aspect of it, ask more questions so you can better understand who or what specifically they may be referring to.
Reference
Janie Boschma, Daniel Wolfe, Priya Krishnakumar, Christopher Hickey, Meghna Maharishi, Renée Rigdon, John Keefe and David Wright, “Census release shows America is more diverse and more multiracial than ever,” CNN Politics, Aug. 21, 2021, at https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/politics/us-census-2020-data/index.html
U.S. Census Bureau, “Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census,” Aug. 12, 2021, at https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html
Abdel-Salam, Laila, “‘What Are You?’ Racial Ambiguity, Belonging, and Well-Being Among Arab American Women,” Columbia University, 2021, at https://www.proquest.com/openview/f5a8ca2249c17829f4f2ae9e6979bbd5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Germine H. Awad, Hanan Hashem & Hien Nguyen, “Identity and Ethnic/Racial Self-Labeling among Americans of Arab or Middle Eastern and North African Descent,” Identity, Vol. 21, 2021, Issue 2 at 115–130, Feb. 4, 2021, at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15283488.2021.1883277
D’VERA COHN, “Federal officials may revamp how Americans identify race, ethnicity on census and other forms,” Pew Research Center, Oct. 4, 2016, at https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/04/federal-officials-may-revamp-how-americans-identify-race-ethnicity-on-census-and-other-forms/
Office of Management and Budget, “Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,” Federal Register, Vol. 62, №210, Oct. 30, 1997, at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1997/10/30/97-28653/revisions-to-the-standards-for-the-classification-of-federal-data-on-race-and-ethnicity and PDF version at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/pdf/97-28653.pdf
Related LinkedIn posts
ABI GHC Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nivinekzakhari_vghc21-dareto-countmena-activity-6837505453249982464-ITaU
LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nivinekzakhari_countmena-inclusionmatters-census2030-activity-6853134511333613568-3p4x
KB — New Portrait Visual https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1YL68OkBMA
#CountMENA #InclusionMatters #DEI