When Mary Chammas applied to Cal State Fullerton in 2018, she identified as a White student on official forms since that is how those of Middle Eastern or North African descent are categorized.
But in reality, Chammas, who is Lebanese American, does not identify as White.
“We are not White. We don’t receive the same privileges when we speak our native tongues in public,” said Chammas.
The federal government is now considering adding a new category on federal surveys and the U.S. census to designate Middle Eastern or North African descent (MENA), a move Chammas says is “long overdue.”
The Biden administration’s proposal comes after several years of urging by Census Bureau officials to more accurately collect data as well as campaigning by MENA groups.
Now, the Office of Management and Budget, which sets the federal government’s standards on race and ethnicity reporting data, has five racial categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and White. The standards were last updated in 1997 when the reporting of mixed race was included.
OMB is accepting public comment on the proposed new identifier until April 12.
In the meantime, the Anaheim-based Arab American Civic Council is conducting information workshops at universities, mosques and churches across Orange County to raise awareness of the proposed change and encourage community members to share public testimony.
“While I was working in the community towards designating Little Arabia, our city officials asked us how many Arab Americans live here,” said Rashad Al-Dabbagh, the Arab American Civic Council’s founder and executive director. “I don’t know. We don’t have data about our community. We don’t have accurate numbers of our community.”
A separate category on federal forms, Al-Dabbagh said, will allow the community to avail of resources, such as small business loans specifically available to marginalized…
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