Since 1944, Middle Eastern- and North African-Americans have been legally “white,” having to check the “white” box on demographic surveys like the U.S. census. The reason for this classification can be traced to the 19th century, when MENA Christians who intended to immigrate to the United States identified as “Caucasian” to evade restrictive and racist immigration policies. Perhaps the fact that many MENA individuals are “white-passing” — having phenotypic features that allow them to be perceived as white and thus access some degree of white privilege — is another reason for this classification. Moreover, research shows that some MENA-Americans, particularly those who historically immigrated from Lebanon or Syria and who are non-Muslim, older, and more educated are more likely to identify as “white” than as “Arab-American.”
However, within the last few years, the decades-old movement for creating a separate MENA category on the U.S. census has been reinvigorated, shedding light on how MENA identity differs from mainstream white identity. In examining how the experiences of MENA-Americans differ from those of European descent, it becomes clear that MENA-Americans are marginalized in ways that European white Americans are not, and that MENA-Americans share a unique cultural background. These salient differences in privilege and culture between MENA- and white Americans, as well as the benefits that the addition of a MENA category would bring, necessitate the addition of a MENA category on the census and other demographic surveys.
Definitional Differences
In arguing for the MENA-white distinction, one might consider a definition of race that is both biological and cultural. Traditionally, race is seen as a phenotypic category: The American Sociological Association defines race as “physical differences that groups and cultures consider socially significant.” The physical differences that the United States — and much of the Western world — considers “socially significant” are reflected in the racial categorization scheme of the U.S. Census Bureau, which includes the categories “White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.” Ethnicity is a related but distinct concept, referring to “shared culture, such as language, ancestry, practices, and beliefs.” Even accepting this restrictive definition of race as purely physical, a significant portion of MENA individuals are visibly non-white; this alone is evidence of the need for a MENA racial category.
However, scholars argue that one’s race is dependent not only on physical features, but also on religion, culture, and migratory experience. Using this definition of race, MENA-Americans are different from European white Americans in that many are recent immigrants, many are Muslim, and all share a distinctive Middle Eastern culture that is separate from European culture. “It is the culture — the food, the language — that bring people of this region together,” Rumaitha Al Busaidi, a Harvard Kennedy School student from Oman, said in an interview with the HPR.
The Plight of MENA-Americans
Americans of MENA origin experience disadvantage and discrimination that is unique; as such, they lack white privilege. A variety of factors make the MENA-American experience challenging and at times traumatic — they often carry historical traumas experienced in countries of origin and during the process of immigration and resettlement, and must navigate a hostile American environment as well. Extreme American national policies such as increased surveillance and policing of MENA-Americans, as well as negative stereotypical portrayals of MENA-Americans in the media, add to the psychological stress faced by MENA-Americans. And this officially sanctioned discrimination has only worsened with the actions and policies of the Trump Administration, most notably the “Muslim Ban,” which prohibits residents of six MENA countries from traveling to the United States and effectively suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
These macro-level factors facilitate the potential for micro-level aggressions, which occur on the daily, interpersonal level, and result in further trauma. Discrimination, xenophobia, harassment, and exclusion are familiar to many MENA-Americans, challenging the notion that their experience can be understood as white. White Americans of European origin do not typically face the structural and interpersonal forms of discrimination and trauma that many MENA-Americans do. For Al Busaidi, even quotidien interactions are often impacted by her race, which others are quick to perceive given her dark complexion and hijab. “If I were to walk into a store, I would have a very different conversation than a white person would have. I would be asked ‘Where do you come from?’ I would perhaps be asked about religion or U.S. foreign policy.”
Understanding Discrimination
In the context of the War on Terror and recent American interventions in the Middle East, MENA-Americans have become increasingly racialized, categorized as distinctly “Middle Eastern” as a result of both external and internal processes. This heightened racialization in turn amplifies racial differences and provides a greater basis for prejudice and discrimination.
“White fear” is one reason for the growing racialization of MENA-Americans. Cases of radical Islamist terrorism like the September 11 attacks have exacerbated xenophobia and Islamophobia, with white Americans increasingly viewing MENA-Americans as threats. Al Busaidi described the stereotypes through which white Americans tend to (mis)understand the Middle East: “People paint a picture of MENA countries as being places of rebellion and violence, societies where women don’t have rights. Media coverage makes it seem like MENA people are the source of all the problems in the world.”
The conflation of MENA and Muslim identity is a salient factor in explaining the increased racialization of MENA Americans. Al Busaidi, herself a Muslim, attested to this phenomenon. “There is a big misconception that everyone from MENA comes from a certain religion. Not everyone from the region is Muslim.” The Islamophobia that has grown in the wake of terrorist attacks thus becomes directed toward MENA people more generally.
Americans also tend to think in a dichotomous racial binary, which leads to selective racialization. In order to conform to the traditional “white-nonwhite” paradigm, in-between populations like MENA are categorized on either side depending on their favorability to the white group. Members of the white ingroup subconsciously categorize favored and famous MENA individuals as white and categorize infamous and disfavored MENA individuals as Middle Eastern. Consider famous MENA individuals such as Andre Agassi, Ralph Nader, or Shakira, who are all seen as “white,” and contrast them with Osama Bin Laden or Ayatollah Khomeini, who are seen as “Middle Eastern.”
Internal racialization plays a role here, too: In order to evade racial discrimination, many MENA-Americans assimilate with white identity, perhaps even subconsciously. Michel Nehme, a Lebanese-Australian student at Harvard College and the assistant program director at the Project on Shiism and Global Affairs at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, described this trend in an Australian context during an interview with the HPR. “When you have particularly Islamophobic tendencies, you will see ethnic enclaves tighten and you’ll see people who diverge from those ethnic enclaves trying to become as white as possible. In Western Sydney, there is a dense population of Shiite and Christian Lebanese who have become autonomous, while many Lebanese outside that space have become incredibly westernized.”
Although this response may alleviate experiences of discrimination, it impedes efforts at fostering group solidarity, undermining civil rights efforts as MENA individuals are not recognized as a disadvantaged minority group. Indeed, studies have shown that because MENA identity is often conflated with whiteness, the group is understudied, effectively discounting its unique challenges and experiences and furthering its marginalization.
The Census Solution
The addition of a MENA box on the national census questionnaire would allow many MENA-Americans to more accurately express their identity. The broad group contains a diversity of identities, with members identifying as white, non-white, or something in between. Nehme, who was raised in Australia and has Lebanese parents, told the HPR that he would identify as both MENA and white, acknowledging that his white-passing status allows him to enjoy privileges that others with darker complexions and more typical MENA features would not. But he also identifies with being MENA, having been raised with elements of Lebanese culture in a way that sets him apart from the typical white Australian. On the other hand, Al Busaidi would not — and does not — identify as white. The addition of a MENA box, she said, would more precisely encapsulate her race.
Moreover, this addition serves as a symbolic gesture — it acknowledges the presence of a unique Middle Eastern identity that is also very much American. Nehme noted that “it can come across as flippant for a census to acknowledge the differences between Caucasian and Asian-American, between Caucasian and African-American, etc. It seems like an omission [to leave out MENA]; it seems like they’re saying the Middle Eastern community isn’t as tied up in U.S. life as these other ethnicities.”
But the impacts are pragmatic as well; as Khaled Beydoun wrote in Al Jazeera, the resulting “data would benefit Arab Americans with regard to state services, political organisation and influence, as well as research and healthcare.”
And in an interview with the HPR, Yael Berda, assistant professor in sociology and anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, emphasized the material benefits of adding a MENA category to the census. “Having categories for a group means that they can request allocation of funds and show previous discrimination” Berda explained. “And as we’ve seen with the addition of the Hispanic/Latino category on the census, once there is a more accurate data on the racial makeup of a population, media outlets better cater to a particular population and politicians better serve the needs of their constituents.”
Nehme reiterated this point: “It is important for MENA-Americans to feel like … they can mobilize as a voting block, especially in the face of Islamophobic tendencies. Currently, they are treated and feel like disparate communities in America, lacking strong ties and the ability to politically mobilize.”
Some argue that it might be better to be part of the “hegemonic category,” and that Middle Eastern communities in the United States actually benefit from the existing census structure. Berda acknowledged that a danger in classifying MENA populations is that enforcement agencies may more easily surveil and discriminate against them. “It depends on who has access to the information: enforcement agencies, corporate powers, or public leaders? But regardless, as long as there is a category, it may be deployed by anyone. This is a very real concern.” But these risks of discrimination seem to reflect the existing prejudices that MENA-Americans face, and the fight against this discrimination requires accurate data. Transparency about how the data would be used, as well as restrictions against using it for targeted discrimination, may help to ameliorate this concern.
Throughout American history, the definition of whiteness has expanded and contracted, from the exclusion of Southern and Eastern Europeans from the white racial category in the 19th century to the inclusion of Middle Easterners and North Africans in the white racial category in the 21st century. History has shown us that race is dynamic in nature and constantly evolving. Given their physical and cultural differences, social and political realities, and unique histories, it is time that MENA-Americans be given a census option that better encapsulates their lived experiences.