The "Alliance for Justice," a leftist organization known for its consistent opposition to Republican judicial nominees, compiles statistics, including those bearing on race, about federal judges. Here are the "races," that appear in a list on the Alliance for Justice's website:
African-American
Arab-American
Asian-American
Hispanic
Native American
White.
Arab-Americans a race? (And for that matter, are Hispanics a race?)
The Left's racial-obsessiveness has now turned a common language into a so-called race, bringing to mind discredited, specious, and mischievous notions of other linguistically-based races, such as the Semitic and the Aryan. Who knows, the Left next might take another leaf from the Victorian age and begin to measure heads to develop the phrenological characteristics for each of these alleged races. Or perhaps it will revive the long-ago discussion of quadroons and octoroons. (November 8, 2003)
Nov. 21, 2003 update: As the USA Today headline today puts it, "U.S. Census reports on Arab-Americans for first time." And while the census report does not deem Arab-Americans to be a separate race, unlike the Alliance for Justice, this certainly does mark a step in the direction of some form of official recognition and perhaps even affirmative action.
For the record, the census finds that "Arabs numbered 1.2 million in 2000, up 38% since 1990 and double the number in 1980, when the Census began tracking ancestry." Oh, and of course this: "Arab groups already are complaining that the Census missed about 2 million people of Arab ancestry. They estimate there are more than 3 million Arabs in this country."
Mar. 9, 2005 update: I take up today the inflated demographic claims by Arab-American groups at "How Many Arab-Americans?"
May 29, 2012 update: This bad idea, naturally, finds a home in the Obama administration, reports Rachel Leven in The Hill:
The Commerce Department is considering naming Arab Americans a socially and economically disadvantaged minority group that is eligible for special business assistance. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) petitioned Commerce earlier this year to ask that Arab Americans be made eligible for the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which helps minority entrepreneurs gain access to capital, contracts and trade opportunities. The ADC petition cited "discrimination and prejudice in American society resulting in conditions under which Arab-American individuals have been unable to compete in a business world." The group claimed discrimination against Arab Americans increased after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Comment: That's called turning lemons into lemonade.
Oct. 2, 2012 update: Matthew Vadum asks about an "Official Victim Status for Arab-Americans?" at FrontPageMag.com and argues against the status.
Jan. 30, 2015 update: The U.S. Census Bureau is considering allowing Americans of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent to identify themselves as such on the next census in 2020.
Oct. 21, 2016 update: The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed adding a new Middle East-North Africa category for the 2020 census, as long demanded by ethnic advocacy groups. Ironically, given growing anti-Muslim feelings, some Middle Easterners are having second thoughts about the utility of the MENA classification.
Jan. 26, 2018 update: "The Census Bureau will not include a combined question format for collecting ... a separate Middle Eastern or North African category on the census form." With that laconic statement on the Census Bureau website ends the drama about a MENA category, at least for the 2020 census.
July 26, 2022 update: David E. Bernstein argues against this new racial category in "What a 'MENA' racial classification would mean for American Jews."
Mar. 31, 2023 update: Joe Biden declared April 2023 as "National Arab-American Heritage Month," presumably a major step toward the new racial category.
Mar. 28, 2024 update: The Associated Press reports on U.S. government forms that "A Middle Eastern and North African category will be added to the choices available for questions about race and ethnicity. People descended from places such as Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria had been encouraged to identify as white, but now will have the option of identifying themselves in the new group."
