MENA-Middle East or North African

Under President Obama, in 2015, a question for the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau survey included identification of a respondent as “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA). Importantly, MENA as a response would not be aggregated to the much broader ‘White’ category. The Trump administration killed the question. In 2022, some Congress members requested renewal of the MENA category for the 2030 Census. Contributing writer, John Mason reports on pro-Arab sentiment about the importance of the MENA tag, captured, as follows, “It’s like we always say, ‘White without the privilege.’ We’re counted as white, but we’ve never had the privilege that comes with it.”