Comments Needed to Support Adding MENA as a Federal Statistical Classification - Deadline extended to April 27!

Comments Needed to Support Adding MENA as a Federal Statistical Classification - Deadline extended to April 27!

Type: 
Blog Post

 

Comments needed to support adding  MENA

as a federal statistical classification
From ACCESS
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently announced their proposed revision to Directive 15 to include a Middle Eastern and North African category (MENA). Since 1977, Directive 15, which identifies the data that federal agencies must collect, has set the terms for racial and ethnic categories in the United States. It has systematically excluded Middle Eastern and North Africans from equitable opportunity and protection for decades.   
Our communities have struggled with severe cultural, linguistic, and systemic barriers to accessing government services. This has led to troubling disparities in health, education, employment, housing, and civil rights. For example, in 2021, USA Today published an article referring to the impact of COVID-19 on MENA communities as an “unseen crisis” because our communities are placed in the White category. With these standards, our communities cannot effectively tell the stories of surveillance, school suspensions and expulsions, voter suppression, and other forms of discrimination. We have been invisible for far too long. 
If we are successful, MENA communities will finally be eligible to receive better federal funding and protection, allowing for more equitable health, education, political representation, and support for small businesses in our communities. If they don’t receive adequate feedback, they could decide that this is not an efficient use of resources. We cannot let that happen. 
Please join us in advocating to the OMB to count MENA communities. Submit your comment here https://p2a.co/CjJw3Xx, and please encourage your peers, family, friends, and neighbors to do the same. We have created template comments https://p2a.co/CjJw3Xx so it should only take you two minutes! This is our chance to change history. 
[People can also go directly to the Federal Register site for more detailed information about the issue. Submissions are due April 27, 2023 (extended from April 12, 2023)
Here is recording of presentation on MENA by office of Rep. Tlaib.
 
The Dearborn City Council passed a resolution supporting the proposed MENA classification on March 21, 2023.   Here is the resolution:
 

REVISED 3.21.23

 OFFICE OF THE 34TH CITY COUNCIL

MENA Resolution - Council Resolution for March 21, 2023

WHEREAS: The federal government does not currently collect or produce data on the race and
ethnicity of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) populations and has not updated its standards
for data collection on race and ethnicity since 1997; be it further

WHEREAS: Our national diversity has changed significantly since then and, at the same time,
conditions have gotten worse for marginalized groups, particularly for those not recognized in
federal data, like individuals from the MENA region; be it further

WHEREAS: Demographic data on MENA populations is currently aggregated under the
“White” racial category on the decennial census and other Federal information collection forms; be
it further


WHEREAS: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sets the standards for all federal data
collection on race and ethnicity under Statistical Policy Directive Number 15 (SPD 15) and is
considering a revision to SPD 15 which would require all federal agencies to collect data on race
and ethnicity through a single question that includes a “Middle Eastern or North African” response; be it further

WHEREAS: The systematic exclusion of MENA populations from federal data bars MENA communities from accessing equal protection from discrimination and equal opportunity to benefit from federal programs that serve culturally specific or linguistically isolated groups; be it further
 
WHEREAS: Data on race and ethnicity is a critical tool for communities to advocate for protection
under the Voting Rights Act, assistance under the Small Business Act, and health care services
under the Public Health Service Act, to name just a few federally supported programs that are
connected to SPD 15; be it further

WHEREAS: The City of Dearborn has taken steps to promote equality and equity in its provision of
services and protections for all communities through additional language access initiatives, and
would benefit greatly from being able to identify inequities, such as health, education, or
employment, experienced by MENA populations in all federal surveys and information collections; be it further
 

WHEREAS: ACCESS and the Intercultural Community Center of Dearborn (ICCD) are advocating for the OMB to require that all federally conducted and supported data collection activities, including the decennial census, collect data on race and ethnicity through a combined question that includes a “Middle Eastern or North African” response category; be it further

WHEREAS: Collecting racial and ethnic data on MENA populations will ensure that federal, state,
and local governments recognize and meet the needs of all communities; therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the members of the 34ᵗʰ City Council of the City of Dearborn urge the OMB to
include MENA as a response option across all federal information collection activities and
encourages residents to make public comments in support of this proposed revision to SPD 15, be it further

RESOLVED: That this resolution serves as a letter of support for the OMB to revise SPD 15 to
include a MENA response category as part of a combined race and ethnicity question; be it further

RESOLVED: That this resolution be given immediate effect.

Mustapha A. Hammoud, Councilmember

Leslie C. Herrick, Councilmember Council President Pro Tem

League to which this content belongs: 
Dearborn-Dearborn Heights