' We're Not White-- Our Identities Have Been Erased'

BySunita Sohrabji

Mar 1, 2024

Misidentification of MENA people causes damage to the neighborhood, rejecting access to vital health resources, college scholarships and financial assistance.

Somali kids play together. (Ismail Dirrir photo through Unsplash).

More than 3.5 million people with roots from 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa are currently misidentified as White in United States Census information, and in almost all states and school districts.

AB 2673, presented in the California state Legislature today by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, will add the MENA category to all state consumption types. Essayli, who is Lebanese-American, also authored House Resolution 30 in 2023, in an effort to gather MENA data at the federal level.

Around 740,000 individuals from the Middle East and North African nations live in California, which has the biggest MENA population in the country. "Current demographic information collection in California is entirely insufficient in catching the distinct experiences that MENA neighborhoods deal with, from health issues to socioeconomic outcomes," said Essayli, as he presented the costs Feb. 26.

No Check Box

" AB 2763 will guarantee that state agencies and lawmakers will have the needed data to make educated decisions about policy top priorities and resource allowance," he stated.

Brown and black people hailing from MENA countries currently should check "White" on main kinds, as there is no other designation for them. The resulting absence in information about the community leads to an absence of funding for critical health and neighborhood resources, and an inability to gain access to numerous monetary aid and scholarship programs for college, among other problems. Seriously, there is no health information for the neighborhood.

" It's really difficult when the budget plans are figured out. There's no data about their quantity, where they are, where they're situated, and what their needs are," stated Evans. An absence of identity typically induces multi-generational trauma, leading to anxiety and self-harming behaviors, she stated.

My dad came as an immigrant from Somalia. My mom came as a refugee. I'm as American as they come.
" But I still have that confusion of: 'What am I considered?' It's something I'm still figuring out," he stated.

Amin Nash, policy and research planner at the Arab American Civic Council, informed EMS he was 11 years old when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened, eliminating an estimated 2,977 people, and injuring thousands of others. "I was the only Iraqi American in my school and the only Muslim.

" Honestly, the idea that came into my head when I was a kid, and I still have actually that believed now, is they simply don't desire me to exist. And in lots of methods, it is a form of discrimination.
At the federal level, The National Network of Arab American Communities, a coalition of 30 organizations, is leading the Health Equity and MENA Inclusion Act, which focuses on health and data equity, and voting rights. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Robin Kelly (D-IL) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

" We actually wish to make certain that the MENA neighborhood's voice is being acknowledged and heard, which we are being promoted for," stated Sahid.