The U.S. government is introducing a new racial category, Middle Eastern or North African (MENA), for the Census and federal forms. This move by the Office of Management and Budget has sparked debate, with critics like Sohrab Ahmari arguing that the classification is nonsensical and will further racialize society, emphasizing that racial categories are arbitrary and do not accurately represent individuals' identities.
Thanks to Team Biden, I can identify myself as belonging to a Mideast "race." It makes zero sense: "MENA" is a geographic designation, and its various nationalities manifest different racial appearances, from my blue-eyed grandma to black Iranians. https://t.co/4MhhQcqB54
Race categories are dumb/arbitrary. Now Team Biden is inventing new ones like the "Mideast" race for people like me. Yet some Greeks are less “white” than my grandma was; no Chinese person feels affinity with a Polynesian because they're both “AAPI.” https://t.co/4MhhQcqB54
Team Biden's invention of a Middle Eastern "race" on the US Census will further the sad racialization of our common life, in which demands for recognition and respect aren’t legible unless they are formulated as claims about skin pigmentation. https://t.co/4MhhQcqB54
Team Biden's idea of treating "Middle Eastern & North African" as a "race" makes no sense. My grandmother had naturally blonde hair and blue eyes. Yet she was just as Iranian and “MENA” as her compatriots from southern Iran, who look black in every way. https://t.co/ZUqZvmG2Au
Oh, great. The Biden White House turned me into a minority by turning “Middle Eastern” into a “race.” It’s a nonsensical move that will only further the sad racialization of our common life. My latest for CompactMag on S*b*t*ck. https://t.co/4MhhQcr8UC
The Office of Management and Budget created a new racial category called Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) for all government surveys and forms. @AlexNowrasteh explains the downsides of the new MENA racial classification and why people of MENA ancestry should oppose it…… https://t.co/l2stxryiuV
Obama’s Americans: The former President’s atomized, placeless definition of who we are is a recipe for national disintegration https://t.co/rodqnp6nmZ
The government is expanding its racial categories for the U.S. Census and federal forms. @melissajourno https://t.co/sZ4UQpO8hJ