Thank you for sharing this information! The federal government's way of framing race and ethnicity demographic questions have bothered so many for so long and it was disappointing when the original proposal to change some of these items did not succeed when previously introduced by the Obama administration.
These questions have real-world implications: research on the American MENA community has been anecdotal because of the lack of an identifier to quantify it; MENA Americans have lost out on opportunities for health and social services and even small-business grants without the statistics that assist other communities; and, though they have been on the wrong end of some questionable homeland security policies, it is difficult to study those practices because there is no definitive data.
This issue has been rooted in, and continues to invoke, racist fears, and needs to change. For some context, I am referring to:
- Fears that the introduction of Hispanic and MENA as a race will decrease the size of the white population, fueling the anxieties of white supremacists
- The historical context of why immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa pushed to be categorized as white, which is touched on in this article and this article. But here's a little tidbit from the latter:
The reigning ideology of that time was based on the erroneous philosophy of "Social Darwinism," which ranked different races along a hierarchy with white people at the top. According to their logic, Jesus MUST be white, because he is the son of God and the ultimate human. And if Jesus is white, then Middle Easterners must be white as well. Essentially, Shishim leveraged Jesus's ethnicity, who was indeed a Middle Eastern man, as a way to assert his own whiteness and gain citizenship into the United States.
(Insert eye roll)
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Nikki Marchan MPH
Sr. Specialist, Antimicrobial Resistance
APHL
Silver Spring MD
240-485-2705
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2023 11:34 AM
From: Brooke Beaulieu
Subject: Upcoming opportunities to provide feedback on race and ethnicity data collection and standardization
Good morning,
I would like to make folks aware of two opportunities to provide feedback regarding standardization and collection of race and ethnicity data. As more opportunities for discussion and comment development coordination arise, I will add them to this thread.
- Webinar TODAY at 1:00 PM ET: CDC Race and Ethnicity Codes (CDCREC) Updates
Abstract: The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has completed the update and approval of the CDC Race and Ethnicity Codes (CDCREC). It is publicly available on the Public Health Information Network Vocabulary Access and Distribution System (PHIN VADS) PHIN VADS site for viewing and is open for public comments until April 1st, 2023. The presenter(s) will provide code system background, briefly highlight the updates and anticipated changes based on the OMB initial proposal to top-level Race and Ethnicity categories. Webinar info is below:
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://cdc.zoomgov.com/j/1615394362?pwd=ZlNSNGRnbjUrZ0lmWW1uUzMwL0hlZz09
Passcode: 595705@1a
Or One tap mobile :
US: +16692545252,,1615394362#,,,,*718869992# or +16468287666,,1615394362#,,,,*718869992#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 254 5252 or +1 646 828 7666 or +1 646 964 1167 or +1 669 216 1590 or +1 415 449 4000 or +1 551 285 1373
Webinar ID: 161 539 4362
Passcode: 718869992
- Deadline to provide feedback: April 1st, 2023. Comments on the CDC Race and Ethnicity detailed code system can be submitted to REcodes@cdc.gov. Once updates have been identified and applied to the code system the PHIN VADS team will work to get this in the production environment and the code system will be live in PHIN VADS shortly after April 1st, 2023.
- Initial Proposals For Updating OMB's Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards
- OMB requests comments on the initial proposals from the Federal Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards (Working Group) for revising OMB's 1997 Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15).
- The full proposal can be accessed here and includes several sub-questions; however the proposals can be grouped into three main categories:
- Deadline to provide feedback: April 12, 2023.
Thank you,
Brooke
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Brooke Beaulieu
Lead Specialist, Informatics
APHL
Silver Spring MD
240-485-3872
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