Arab American - Census Category

Census Category

The current U.S. Census definition includes white "people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa." However, just like different groups within each country, some of the ancestral and racial heritage of the peoples of not only each Middle East and North African country (Arab or otherwise) is a complex mosaic of elements indigenous to their respective regions, influenced to varying degrees by other elements introduced from historic interactions with Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and Europe, either because of conquests, slave trade, or simply due to proximity.

In 2010, a group of Arab-Americans in Orange County, California, launched a campaign with the slogan "check it right, you ain't White" to encourage Arabs to check the box that says "Other" when filling out their 2010 United States Census form and identify themselves as "Arab" or their specific country of origin.

Many Arab Americans, especially those with darker complexions (irrespective of their religious tradition), have been increasingly targeted for discrimination and hate crimes after the September 11 attacks.

A new Zogby Poll International found that there are 3.5 million Americans who were identified as "Arab-Americans", or Americans of ancestry belonging to one of the 23 UN member countries of the Arab World (these are not necessarily therefore Arabs). Poll finds that, overall, a majority of those identifying as Arab Americans are Lebanese Americans (largely as a result of being the most numerous group), although proportionally, as a group by national origin, Lebanese Americans identifying as Arab Americans may be smaller than, for instance, Yemeni Americans.