The Metro: Middle Eastern, North African category added to US census and federal government surveys

For decades, Arab Americans have been advocating for a new Middle East and North African category in the U.S. Census. That’s because the census has been recognizing people from MENA countries as white.

However, the Biden administration approved proposals for a new response option for “Middle Eastern or North African” and a “Hispanic or Latino” box for the U.S. Census and on all federal government surveys.

Matt Jaber Stifler, director of the Center for Arab Narratives at ACCESS, the largest Arab American community nonprofit in the U.S., joined The Metro to discuss what this means for Arab Americans.

The new categories will provide more specific data, Jaber Stifler says.

“For the Middle Eastern North African community, which in metro Detroit is majority, the Arabic speaking populations they have since the 1960s [have] just been lumped into the white racial category,” Jaber Stifler said.

Questions about race and ethnicity will now be combined into a single question, the Associated Press reports. People will also be able to select multiple categories at once. Roughly 3.5 million U.S. residents identify as Middle Eastern and North African based on 2020 census data.

Data can be used by organizations and local governments to identify and improve issues in Middle Eastern or North African communities.

“This is something that people have been wanting for many, many decades. We almost had it a few years ago and then it went away,” stated Jaber Stifler. “And we’re just happy it’s here. We know there’s a lot more work to be done to make sure it’s implemented correctly, but we’re gonna celebrate for now.”

More headlines from The Metro on March 29, 2024:

• Raina Battle is a Detroiter and the sous chef at Detroit Central Market. She joins the show to talk about her culinary journey. 
• WDET’s Sam Corey talks to Alex Alsup of “The Chargeback” Substack. He breaks down land value taxes, something Mayor Mike Duggan was hoping to get approved. 
• WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper sits down with The Detroit News food critic Melody Baetens to learn what menu items are new at Comerica Park. 
• WDET’s Hernz Laguerre Junior spoke with Detroit Musix founder Samuel Donald to learn more about the “Higher Ground Music, Hip Hop and Mental Health” symposium, taking place from 6-9 p.m. tonight at the University of Michigan’s Detroit Center on Woodward.