Census Race Question

[Carolyn 1]

Hi all,

Trying to finally fill out the Census form for my family. What did you all do about the "Race" Question? I know that technically people who are of North African and Middle Eastern descent are categorized as white, but my husband is clearly NOT white. He is of Moroccan Berber and some Touareg descent...

It seems to me that these racial categories are seriously limited...

Thanks for any ideas,

Carolyn

[illnevergetthis 5]

I wouldn't say that MENA people are white. My husband is not white...he is arab. Therefore, if he were here...I would list him under the other category.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Here's a post from another VJ that I saved a while ago:

On Races:

From a scientific standpoint, there are only 3 races:

- Caucasian (Indo-European), which includes native Europeans, Middle Easterners (both Arabs, non-Arab Muslims and Jews) and Indians.

- Negroid, which includes native Africans (except Arabs of North Africa) and natives of Australia.

- Mongoloid, which includes Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans (American Indians), and some small northern Nations such as Escimos.

In this strict definition, Middle Easterner would be considered of Caucasian race. However, the way this question is presented on most US forms is not accurate. This list is really a mix of races (such as Black or Asian) and ethnicities/ethnic origins (such as Hispanic or Pacific Islander) which are either part of one of the separately mentioned races or a mix of such.

That creates most of the confusion - while people of Mongoloid race get to choose between Asian, Hispanic and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, basically based of their country of origin; Middle Easterners, Indians and people of native European decent get all piled up in one broad category "White". Plus, there is no accomodation for people of mixed race.

Some forms go even further into the world of politcal correctness nonsense and feature such ridiculous terms as "White (non-Hispanic)" or "Black (except Black Hispanic)" and so on. This just makes my head hurt...

Luckily, since the census form was created by idiots, huge, confusing, incorrect, just answer as you please . . . .

[illnevergetthis 5]

I just had a good time reading blogs on the matter, but I decided to go to the census website...so, for futher reading...

While OMB accepted the Interagency's Committee recommendation not to create a new category for this population group, OMB believes that further research should be done to determine the best way to improve data on this population group. Meanwhile, the write-ins to the ancestry question on the decennial census long form will continue to provide information on the number of individuals who identify their heritage as Arab or Middle Easterner

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_1997standards/

[hassan_debbie 4]

Hi all,

Trying to finally fill out the Census form for my family. What did you all do about the "Race" Question? I know that technically people who are of North African and Middle Eastern descent are categorized as white, but my husband is clearly NOT white. He is of Moroccan Berber and some Touareg descent...

It seems to me that these racial categories are seriously limited...

Thanks for any ideas,

Carolyn

Technically they are caucasion but not white. I checked "other" and wrote next to it Arab.

Deb

[Carolyn 1]

Technically they are caucasion but not white. I checked "other" and wrote next to it Arab.

Deb

\ccc

Yeah, I think I'm overanalyzing it...I'm going to check "other," too, and write something in.

I wonder if they will even have such a question 10 years from now...or if it will look completely different.

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, sorry, is not 'something' to catch yer husband's ethnic demographic.

suggest you check 'other', then write in 'Berber and some Touareg'

Let them figure it out back at Census Headquarters.

[~Jackie~ 30]

We checked 'Other" and wrote in 'Jordanian'

[CasandraYounes 0]

Funny this is being brought up....Aziz and I just had this conversation last night. I told him I didn't know for sure, but I checked other and wrote Arab. He asked me about Indians that dont' look white and I didn't know how to answer that....It is definately confusing and I think that they should create more categories that take into account other and mixed races.

[Carolyn 1]

Being multi-racial is no longer an issue--you can check as many boxes as apply to you (apparently before the 2000 census you had to check just one).

[UmmSqueakster 54]

AbuS checked "other" and wrote in arab.

There's a campaign in the arab american community to do just that - http://www.newsweek.com/id/234325. Not that it matters, apparently, but maybe if enough people persist, next time it will be changed - http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=87932e5f600086f93be8b029e4a6ff40

It seems rather silly to me that he's considered part of the powerful majority - a white, middle class male - when he's experienced discrimination based on his skin color.

Edited April 2, 2010 by UmmSqueakster

[And_Sam 44]

ya, sorry, is not 'something' to catch yer husband's ethnic demographic.

suggest you check 'other', then write in 'Berber and some Touareg'

Let them figure it out back at Census Headquarters.

Heh heh I like your answer best!