Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Contact
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Toggle search form
  • US Senator Bernie Sanders
    Sanders: Trump Welcomes War Criminal to White House American Arabs
  • Al-Haq
    War crimes probe urged against two Israeli snipers who intentionally killed civilian women, children Christian & Muslim
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    CAIR Says Israel Turns Gaza into ‘Human Slaughterhouse’ as Killing of Civilians Continues Arab World
  • photo credit author Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho www.NGPhoto.biz and Wikipedia
    Emergency Court Motions to Stop Elbit Drone Parts Shipment via Frankfurt Airport  Activism
  • American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh murdered by Israeli soldiers May 11, 2022
    Documentary names soldier it says killed Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 American Arabs
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ
    Jordan bans 12 news sites for ‘spreading media poison’ following corruption report Arab World
  • CAIR Logo. Council on American Islamic Relations
    CAIR Condemns MIT for banning Class President from Graduation Ceremony over Anti-Genocide speech Activism
  • ADC creates emergency fund to defend people who are being punished for expressing views on the American-sanction violence by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Photo courtesy of ADC
    ADC Condemns ADL, Rep. Torres’ Defamation of Dr. Lara Sheehi Activism
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba  Arab World
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month Activism
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders American Arabs
  • Stuffed Grape Leaves. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    A recipe on how to make Stuffed Grape Leaves with lamb, ox tail and rice American Arabs
  • Andrew Boutros, interim US Attorney Northern District of Illinois. Photo courtesy of the US Attorney's Office
    Andrew S. Boutros Takes Oath of Office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois American Arabs
  • Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians March 18 2025
    Palestinians demand investigation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza Strip Arab World
  • Illinois Muslim Action Day April 9 2025
    Illinois Muslim Action Day Policies at April 9 Statehouse News Conference American Arabs

Don’t call me MENA, call me Arab

Posted on October 8, 2016June 12, 2019 By rayhanania No Comments on Don’t call me MENA, call me Arab
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Don’t call me MENA, call me Arab

President Obama is considering placing an all inclusive category called “MENA” (Middle Eastern and North Africa) on the US Census forms going out soon to identify the nation’s 2020 demographic population, but I think the designation should be sweet and simple “Arab.” I’m not MENA, I am Arab and I am proud.

By Ray Hanania

Columnist with the Arab News, www.ArabNews.com

In continuation of his efforts to change the US census, President Barack Obama has proposed a new classification to identify “Middle Eastern and North African” people in a new category called “MENA.”

Although many are hailing Obama’s efforts, placing Arabs in the “MENA” category might actually dilute American Arab empowerment by avoiding the word “Arab.”

We should be called “Arabs” because that is what we are.

Classifying people by race and ethnicity began during the 1960s Civil Rights era and focused mainly on the status of African Americans but by the 1970s was expanded to allow for the US census to provide detailed statistics on up to 29 ethnic and sub-ethnic identities.

America conducts a population census every 10 years. Data from the census is used to ensure that minorities receive their fair share of American society.

Photo by USDAgov
US Census taking Photo by USDAgov

The census is used to enforce the Voting Rights Act, and drawing congressional and state legislative district boundaries. It is used in Federal affirmative action and evaluating employment discrimination claims in the private sector. It is used to fight racial discrimination in housing and mortgage lending, and to enforce school desegregation. The census also defines how identified racial and ethnic groups receive Federal grants and small business loans.

Award given to Ray Hanania from the U.S. Census in volunteering to help promote the Census among American Arabs with the goal of creating a new Census category for Arab Americans
Award given to Ray Hanania and is newspaper in 2000, the Arab American View, from the U.S. Census in volunteering to help promote the Census among American Arabs with the goal of creating a new Census category for Arab Americans

Click here to read the full column published in the Arab News at www.ArabNews.com.

Click to listen to the podcast of the column in the Arab News, or use the widget below:

(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and columnist. American Palestinian Arab, Hanania writes a weekly column for the Arab News at www.ArabNews.com. He also writes each week for several mainstream American newspapers on American politics and life in Chicagoland. Reach him at rghanania@gmail.com.)

newswire info
  • About
  • Latest Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Israelisnipers shooting and killing hospital workers in Gaza - December 11, 2023
  • CAIR Condemns Israeli Executions of Wounded, Unarmed Palestinian in West Bank   - December 11, 2023
  • Arab and Muslim American voters face a “simple choice” between Biden’s inhumanity and Trump’s edgy politics - December 9, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Arab News, Bloggers, Commentary, Middle East, News, Podcast, Politics, Ray Hanania, US Arab Politics Tags:American Arabs, Arab, Arabs, Census, demographics, empowerment, MENA, Middle East and North Africa, Middle Eastern and North Africa, President Obama, US Census

Post navigation

Previous Post: Palestinians run in Chicago & California marathons
Next Post: Trump and Clinton Connections to LBJ and the USS Liberty

Related Posts

  • Seeing through anti-Trump anger to achieve peace Arab World
  • Qatar’s quagmire: existential fears and missed opportunities Arab World
  • Eileen Fleming, American Dreams, Radicals and Reporters American Arabs
  • US Department of Justice logo
    US Justice Department on Actions to prevent hate American Arabs
  • Friends of Hebron fights for civil rights and justice Activism
  • American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hassan Nijem joins Cook COunty Treasurer Maria Pappas in hosting a property tax refund forum at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cicero on Sunday Oct. 31, 2021. The parishioners identified $89,000 that can be refunded to them.
    Pappas, Arab Chamber tax refund program saves $89,000 at St. George Church Activism

More Related Articles

Stop Blaming ‘The Arabs’ for Oil Problems Arab World
Syrian Refugees, We Will Be Back, After Awhile Abdennour Toumi
Jamie Farr heads up Images & Perceptions Conference American Arabs
Dearborn Muslims plan rally against hate American Arabs
Jamal Khashoggi, former Saudi Royal family insider turned critic at the Washington Post, courtesy of Wikipedia Saudi leaders acknowledge role in death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi Arab News
Mike Ghouse Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony American Arabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Ray Hanania's 4 times a week columns at https://RayHanania.com at Substack

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Photo courtesy of Journalist Abdennour Toumi
    France: Political Compromise vs Political Instability
    August 28, 2024
  • Zakia Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia
    Arabs eat Middle East food like they are making love
    June 27, 2024
  • Zwar lamb kabob and kufta with white and yellow rice
    Zwar ranked the Best Middle East restaurant in Chicagoland suburbs
    June 8, 2024
  • Pictured: Rahm Emanuel, Afghan activist Salman Aftab who was co-chair of the Iftar dinner, and several non-Arab Muslim leaders. Also pictured is Ald. Joe Moore. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania for Arab News
    Comprehensive look at the failings of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
    January 18, 2024
  • NEWSWIRE
  • CAIR Logo. Council on American Islamic Relations
    CAIR Condemns MIT for banning Class President from Graduation Ceremony over Anti-Genocide speech
    June 1, 2025
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders
    April 27, 2025
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony
    February 14, 2025

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • NEWS
  • US Senator Bernie Sanders
    Sanders: Trump Welcomes War Criminal to White House
    July 9, 2025
  • Al-Haq
    War crimes probe urged against two Israeli snipers who intentionally killed civilian women, children
    July 2, 2025
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Faisal Abbas Book Anecdotes
    Book Review: Arab author shares his anecdotes living in the United Kingdom
    October 22, 2024
  • Columnist Ray Hanania at the ADC Convention in Dearborn with the author Susan Abulhawa
    Book Review: Mornings in Jenin bySusan Abulhawa
    September 14, 2024
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator
    February 24, 2025
  • ArabCon 2024 Gala Program features Dr. Cornel West, Macklemore, and more
    September 6, 2024
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2025 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme