Arab Americans and MENA

posted on: Jun 10, 2026

What is the Future of Nationwide Data Collection?

The Status of “MENA” in Recent Years

The concept of a specific category for individuals of Middle Eastern or North African descent (MENA) in federal surveys was introduced in 2015 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It has since been the topic of many discussions concerning identity, visibility, and accessibility within both Arab American and West Asian communities in the U.S.. After decades of discourse and lobbying among MENA organizations, arguing that “White” wasn’t a sufficient or representative category for the diaspora, a series of federal assessments were found to uphold this claim. The category was set to be included in the 2020 census but was eventually rolled back by the Census Bureau during the Trump Administration. Once in office, President Biden issued a mandate that tasked the OMB with reevaluating the categories and gauging whether or not they serve the communities they’re designed to represent. Arab America contributing writer Jahnvi Chopra dissects the implications of MENA on Arab American identity and how the category might shift in the future.

Design Flaws of the Descriptor

Following the Biden Administration’s extensive examination of the categories to uncover potential issues in reach or bias implicating from MENA, it was found that there were major visibility issues for a variety of communities. Some of these include Iranian Americans, Black Arabs, Armenian Arabs, among others, as these groups don’t fit into the category neatly.

Many believe that those with MENA ancestry are a distinct group, separate from European Americans, hence why there was a massive push away from the “White” category. However, most don’t fully grasp just how diverse those within the MENA region are. In terms of income and education outcomes within the U.S., the disparities are drastic across its members that technically fit into the same category, but don’t share any ancestry. According to the CATO Institute, inventing a new racial category obscures the glaring differences in economic outcomes, as well as ethnicity, language, religion, and culture, meaning that the data resulting from federal surveys would be more accurate and specific if respondents were asked to record their individual ancestry.

MENA-American Rejection of the Category

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America conducted a study in 2022 on MENA-Americans’ treatment of the category when faced with it as an option in federal surveys. It was found that 60 percent of MENA respondents “identified as MENA only, 27 percent as MENA and White, 12 percent as White, and about 1 percent as MENA in combination with another race or races,” which resulted in a few key takeaways:

First

The respondents didn’t view the category as its own distinct race, rather, they viewed it as an ethnic label, similar to the Hispanic or Latino diasporic identity. For this reason, the category doesn’t behave with its intended purpose: to find a common thread between a large group of people and to classify them under that label. 

Second

Though many individuals with MENA ancestry would choose to self-identify that way when given the option, they’d be more likely to select their “ancestral country of origin.” It would more meaningfully account for the various contrasts between the smaller regions within the Middle East and North Africa. Still, the Census Bureau tries to offer a general understanding of the makeup of a nation, not spotlight every personal identity that one may possess. This means that while MENA offers a little more geographic specificity, the original label of “White” was not too far off from where we are today. They are both umbrella terms that don’t quite allow space for drastically different members to be reflected evenly in the data.

Third

All the categories within federal forms are created according to different standards and face the exact same issue of misrepresenting several populations within them. The White racial category is based not only on those who have ancestral ties to Europe, but the lack of pigmentation in one’s skin, which is a main reason why this category has been so intensely contested. The Asian racial category is similar to MENA, in that they are both race labels based on geography. The Hispanic or Latino ethnic category includes those from Spanish-speaking countries, so there is a major linguistic component in deciding whether someone fits under the term. These are just a few examples of how federal survey categories don’t distinguish groups based on the same criteria, and that the majority of their definitions are somewhat arbitrary and far too vast to provide detailed information.

A Path Forward

MENA has sparked nation-wide discussion surrounding the validity and effectiveness of racial and ethnic categorical distinctions on federal forms. We are entering an era of increased lobbying and organizing, as well as a collective redefining of what these groupings represent and how they pertain to precise data collection. These conversations ignite a deeply personal need within all Americans to understand what defines their identities and seek out true representation for themselves and their communities.

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Works Cited:

https://www.cato.org/people/alex-nowrasteh. “The Consequences of a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) Survey Question.” Cato Institute, September 28, 2023. https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/consequences-middle-eastern-or-north-african-mena-survey-question.

‌Niacouncil.org. “MENA Category in the U.S. Census – Memo – NIAC,” February 29, 2024. https://niacouncil.org/mena-category-in-the-u-s-census-memo/.

Maghbouleh, Neda, Ariela Schachter, and René D. Flores. “Middle Eastern and North African Americans May Not Be Perceived, nor Perceive Themselves, to Be White.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 7 (February 7, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117940119.

‌New, Welcomes. “Arab American Institute.” Arab American Institute, March 28, 2024. https://www.aaiusa.org/library/arab-american-institute-welcomes-new-middle-eastern-or-north-african-mena-category-amp-revision-of-race-and-ethnicity-standards.

‌Bureau, US Census. “About the Topic of Race.” Census.gov, April 2, 2026. https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html.

‌Bureau, US Census. “Lebanese, Iranian and Egyptian Populations Represented Nearly Half of the MENA Population in 2020 Census.” Census.gov, September 21, 2023. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-mena-population.html.

‌Nih.gov. “The Contested Whiteness of Arab Identity in the United States: Implications for Health Disparities Research,” 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6775909/.

Disclaimer: Any opinions reflected in the article are not representative of Arab America as an organization and are those of the writer.