10-06-16 Don't call us MENA, call us Arabs

This is Ray Hanania’s column commentary Podcast … Hanania’s columns are published each week in newspapers throughout the United States and in the Middle East.

He writes on American politics and life in Chicagoland every week in the Des Plaines ValleyNews, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, the Reporter Newspapers,NewsAmericaNetwork.com, and IllinoisNewsNetwork.com. 

An award winning former ChicagoCity Hall reporter named Best Ethnic Columnist by the New America Media, and recipient of the Sigma Delta Chi award for writing, Hanania is of PalestinianArab heritage. He also writes a weekly column every Thursday for the ArabNews at www.ArabNews.com. And, writes news and features for his website at TheArabDailyNews.com.

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Don’t call us MENA in the Census, call us Arabs!

Published in the Arab News, SaudiArabia Oct. 6, 2016 at ArabNews.com

By Ray Hanania

In a continuation of his efforts to change the U.S. Census, President Barack Obama has proposed a new classification to identify “Middle Eastern and North African” people in a new category called “MENA.”

Although many are hailing Obama’s efforts, placing Arabs in the “MENA” category might actually dilute American Arab empowerment by avoiding the word “Arab. 

We should be called “Arab” because that is what we are.

Classifying people by race and ethnicity began during the 1960s Civil Rights era and focused mainly on the status of African Americans, but by the 1970s was expanded to allow for the U.S. Census to provide detailed statistics on up to29 ethnic and sub-ethnic identities.

America conducts a population Census every 10 years. Data from the Census is used to ensurethat minorities receive their fair share of American society. ...

Click here to read more at the Arab News ...