US census data shows how Middle Eastern residents and Hispanics differ in terms of racial identity – Winnipeg Free Press

As the U.S. Census Bureau receives public feedback on how it should classify people into new racial and ethnic groups, the agency has released new research reflecting how U.S. residents from different backgrounds perceive their racial and ethnic identity.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government changed how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity to more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Before this year, the categories had not changed in 27 years.

As part of the revisions, questions about race and ethnicity that were previously asked separately on the forms will be consolidated into a single question. This will give respondents the option to choose multiple categories at once, such as “Black,” “Native American,” and “Hispanic.” Research has shown that a large number of Hispanics do not know how to answer the race question when this question is asked separately, because they understand that race and ethnicity are similar and often choose “another race” or do not answer the question.

A Middle East and North Africa category has also been added to the choices available for questions on race and ethnicity. People from countries including Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria have been encouraged to identify as white, but will now have the option to identify in the new group.

Results from the 2020 census, which asked respondents to indicate their origins on the form, suggest that more than 3.1 million U.S. residents identify as Middle Eastern and North African, also known under the name MENA.

A new study released this month by the Census Bureau showed that more than 2.4 million people, or about 80 percent, who indicated they were from the MENA region did so in the white category in the question about their race in the 2020 census questionnaire.

Nearly 500,000 people, or more than 16 percent, who wrote that they were from the MENA region identified themselves as “another race,” and nearly 139,000 people from the MENA region, or 4.5 percent, identified as Asian. Nearly 50,000 entries written in the MENA region, or 1.6%, did so in the black category.

Among MENA subgroups, people of Lebanese and Syrian origin had the highest percentages of people identifying their race as White, and people identifying as North African, Berber, and Moroccan had the highest rates. higher to mark their race as black. People of Omani, Emirati and Saudi origin in most cases identify as Asian, according to the report.

In a separate report also released this month, the Census Bureau said there was notable variation in racial identity among different U.S. Hispanic groups in the 2020 census.

“Another race” responses and American Indian and Alaska Native responses were most common among people from Central America. White and “other race” responses were most prevalent among residents of South America. The responses “Black alone” and “Black and another race” were most common among people from the Caribbean, according to the report.

There were also variations across regions and states.