As if identity issues aren’t confusing enough for those of us living in the United States who are of Arab or Middle Eastern ancestry, the 2010 United States Census is posing yet another challenge—and, unsurprisingly, stirring up dissent. At issue is what box we should tick on the census form to identify our race. If one is not black, Native American or one of the eleven recognized Asian categories, the only choice is “white†or “some other race.” Hispanics have their own separate question to determine their country of origin. Arabs are not counted as a separate group. Current estimates as to the numbers of people of Arab descent living in the United States are based on the 2000 Census (the United States government conducts a census every ten years); they are extrapolated from a question about “ancestry†or ethnic origin that appeared on a supplementary “long form,†which was distributed to every sixth household. People who responded to that question by listing a country from an Arabic-speaking region were counted as Arabs. According to the Arab-American Institute, that methodology resulted in an undercount by a factor of three, partly because the form only allowed for the inclusion of two ethnicities of origin—so my children, for example, would have had to choose between their English, Dutch and Egyptian heritages. The 2000 approach had other inherent problems. I, for example, would have been counted as an Arab if I listed my ethnic origin as “Egyptian,†but should I be? Conversely, people of other national origins, such as Sudanese, Somalian or Mauritanian, for example, who might consider themselves Arabs would not be counted as such. But such worries are irrelevant this time around–the long form has been eliminated. The form I have sitting on my desk now only allows me to count myself as “white†or “some other race,” and Arabs and Middle Easterners are divided as to what the correct answer should be. Much of the problem lies within the community itself. Up until a few decades ago it wanted—had argued, even—to be counted as white. Ironically, Arabs wanted that categorization so they’d be exempted from discriminatory laws, but today it is the discrimination against them that has moved many of them to push to be their own racial category. But not everyone wants a separate box. Many Arabs still feel they benefit from being regarded as white, particularly in an era of racial profiling and intolerance, and some community leaders fear an “Arab†box, in the current political climate, could lead to abuse. Other groups say it’s simply too imprecise, specifically because so many people from the Middle East do not consider themselves Arabs. The Arab American Institute, for example, would like to see an ancestry question on the next form, but not a separate race box. Officials from that group point out that civil rights laws apply to everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, so a distinct classification wouldn’t necessarily mean great protections. One of the advantages to having an ancestry question would be simply that it would be easier to count the number of Arabs and Middle Easterners. Many believe that the recognized number of Arabs in the United States would likely jump from the 1.2 million counted in the census a decade ago to the roughly 4 million that most Arab interest groups believe is more accurate. That, Arab leaders believe, would heighten their political influence. Arab-American activists are urging Arabs living in America to check “other†under the race category and write-in “Arab,†or at least some of them are. Other groups want people to write in “Middle Eastern” or “Coptic” or “Chaldean” or “Arab-American” or “Palestinian” or a host of other options. And therein lies the problem for the Middle Eastern community in America. It wants to be taken seriously as a political force, to have its interests represented at the highest levels of the United States government and its voice heard in foreign policy decisions as well. But if the community can't even agree on who it is and how it wants to be portrayed, how can it ever speak with a united voice? The dozens of smaller Arab and Middle Eastern groups aren't big enough to move the needle of American policy, either domestic or foreign. Until we can learn to act behind a united front, we will be just a collection of quarreling voices. BM
