Examining heterogeneity in racial identification among Middle Eastern and North African peoples in the American Community Survey

People with Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) backgrounds in the United States have been classified as White by Federal standards for race and ethnicity since 1977, yet many MENA people do not identify as White in surveys, such as those conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. They often select "Some Other Race," if it is provided, and write in MENA responses; however, the Census Bureau still classifies these responses as White in accordance with Federal guidance. Importantly, research that uses these edited public data relies on limited information on MENA racial identification that obscures the heterogeneity within this community. We obtained unedited race responses from the nationally representative American Community Survey from 2005 to 2019 to better understand how people of MENA ancestry racially identified. We also used these data to model heterogeneity in racial identification among MENA folks. We found that one in four MENA people did not select White alone as their racial identity, despite official U.S. policy. This observed heterogeneity in MENA racial identity behavior supports the addition of a distinct MENA category to Federal race and ethnicity data standards, which was announced in March 2024, and will better capture the lived experiences of this community.