Which box do I check?
Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi
00:00
Census Numbers and Categories Can Be Used for Good
The 20 20 census list middle eastern nationalities like lebenese and egyptian when it was guiding respondents about who should check themselves as racially white. Middle easterners who didn't feel comfortable with that could check a box labelled other, down at the bottom of the form. The arab american institute estimates that there are about three point seven million arabs in the us. With no separate box to tick this means that the government isn't tracking if we're getting our fair share. So checue boxes matter. And it's not just about federal dollars or jobs. It's cultural too. Amero sees this lack of representation all the time when they'r pitching us t v
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