US Census Classifications and Arab Americans: Contestations and Definitions of Identity Markers

Abstract

Arab Americans represent an ethnic group that has been deeply divided over state and Census official classifications of racial, ethnic and ancestry identities. Classified as ‘white’ by race due to historical court cases, there have been initiatives by Arab American organisations to obtain a sub-race or alternative racial/ethnic checkboxes since the 1980s. The rise of multiculturalism and ethnic pride, combined with influxes of new, more diverse immigrants, has created large segments of Arab Americans who do not feel ‘white’ and who perceive themselves as persons of colour. The divergent opinions on the race issue and disputes over the meaning and value of ‘Arab’ and of ‘Middle Eastern’ led to many contestations of the US federal classifications on race and ethnicity from the mid-1990s. Ongoing negotiations and alliances with the Census Bureau have highlighted the differences between Arab American organisations over self-definitions of community as well as strategies for obtaining state recognition as an ethnic group. Since 1980, the most viable solution has been to create an aggregate ethnic or ancestry group from responses that range from country of origin to broader regional identifiers. The logistical challenges of defining identity markers for Census enumeration have emphasised the diversity and complexity of the communities in question. Through archival legal research, census records, congressional testimonies and interviews with key players, this paper examines how the state's racial definitions have acted to split and unite different elements within the community defined as ‘of Arab ancestry’.

Keywords:

• Arab American
• Middle Eastern
• Census
• Multiculturalism
• Race
• Identity

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank those who gave their time to be interviewed for this article, Dr. Rita Stephan, and the two anonymous JEMS reviewers, all of whom helped to shape this article.

Notes

1. ‘2010 Census Counts for Selected Write-In Groups/Terms in the White Code Range’. Excel document emailed to author in 2012 by Samer Araabi, Government Relations Manager at the Arab American Institute.

2. Interview on 26 January 2011 with Helen Hatab Samhan, Former Executive Director of the Arab-American Institute/Foundation, 1985–2010.

3. Interview on 15 August 2011 with Ismael Ahmed, co-founder and executive director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, 1971–2007.

4. Interview on 10 February 2011 with Albert Mokhiber, former president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 1990–94.

5. The comedians use an African-American vernacular usage of ‘because’ and ‘are not’ here to add humour and convey the informality of an overtly political message.

6. Interview on 29 January 2011 with Yasmeen Shaheen-McConnell, Program Manager, Arab-American Institute/Foundation.