Editing Arab Americans (section)

==Arab American identity==
[[File:Arab American National Museum.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Arab American National Museum]] in [[Dearborn, Michigan]], celebrates the history of Arab Americans.]]
[[File:Downtown-paterson-nj2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]], New Jersey, has been nicknamed ''[[Little Ramallah]]'' and contains a neighborhood with the same name, with an Arab American population estimated as high as 20,000 in 2015.<ref name="Deena Yellin">{{cite web|url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/palestinian-flag-raising-is-highlight-of-heritage-week-in-paterson-1.1324680|title=Palestinian flag-raising is highlight of heritage week in Paterson|author=Deena Yellin|publisher=North Jersey Media Group|date=2015-05-03|access-date=2015-05-04}}</ref>]]

In 2012, prompted in part by post-9/11 discrimination, the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] petitioned the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency to designate the MENA populations as a minority/disadvantaged community.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/13/stateline-census-mena-africa-mideast/13999239/ "Lobbying for a 'MENA' category on U.S. Census"] Wiltz, Teresea. USA Today. Published 7 October 2014. Accessed 14 December 2015.</ref> Following consultations with MENA organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new [[Middle East and North Africa|MENA]] ethnic category for populations from West Asia, North Africa or the [[Arab world]], separate from the white classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The expert groups, including some Jewish organizations, felt that the earlier white designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they lobbied for a distinct categorization.<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Comments to NCT Federal Register Notice|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/2020-census/2015_census_tests/nct/2015-nct-frn.pdf|publisher=United States Census Bureau; Department of Commerce|access-date=13 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Debra Nussbaum|title=New U.S. Census Category to Include Israeli' Option|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/.premium-1.661491|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref> The 2020 census did not include a separate MENA race category and collected detailed ethnicity information.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 September 2023 |title=Lebanese, Iranian and Egyptian Populations Represented Nearly Half of the MENA Population in 2020 Census |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-mena-population.html |access-date=2024-04-02 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

In the 2015 National Content Test (NCT) for the 2020 Census, the sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well as [[Sudanese American|Sudanese]], [[Djiboutians|Djiboutian]], [[Somali American|Somali]], [[Mauritanian American|Mauritanian]], [[Armenian Americans|Armenian]], [[Cypriot Americans|Cypriot]], [[Afghan Americans|Afghan]], [[Iranian Americans|Iranian]], [[Azerbaijani Americans|Azerbaijani]], and [[Georgian Americans|Georgian]] groups.<ref name=MENA2>{{cite web|title=2015 National Content Test|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/2020-census/2015_census_tests/nct/2015-nct-omb-package.pdf|page=60|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=13 December 2015}}</ref>

On 28 March 2024, the [[Office of Management and Budget]] published revisions to [[Statistical Policy Directive]] No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity that included the addition of "Middle Eastern or North African" to the race and/or ethnicity categories.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity |url=https://spd15revision.gov/ |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=U.S. Office of Management and Budget Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=29 March 2024 |title=Revisions to OMB's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/29/2024-06469/revisions-to-ombs-statistical-policy-directive-no-15-standards-for-maintaining-collecting-and |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=[[Federal Register]]}}</ref>

The Arab American Institute and other groups have noted that there was a rise in [[hate crime]]s targeting the Arab American community as well as people perceived as Arab/Muslim after the September 11 attacks and the US-led [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>Paulson, Amanda. "Rise in Hate Crimes Worries Arab-Americans" (Christian Science Monitor, 10 April 2003). [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0410/p01s03-ussc.html]</ref>

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). The [[Paterson, New Jersey]]-based Arab American Civic Association runs an Arabic language program in the Paterson school district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/paterson-school-district-restarts-arab-language-program-for-city-youths-1.1149766|title=Paterson school district restarts Arab language program for city youths|publisher=Paterson Press, North Jersey Media Group|date=2014-12-10|access-date=2014-12-10}}</ref> Paterson, New Jersey has been nicknamed ''[[Little Ramallah]]'' and contains a neighborhood with the same name, with an Arab American population estimated as high as 20,000 in 2015.<ref name="Deena Yellin"/> Neighboring [[Clifton, New Jersey]], is following in Paterson's footsteps, with rapidly growing Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian American populations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/hundreds-in-clifton-cheer-raising-of-palestinian-flag-1.1546953|title=Hundreds in Clifton cheer raising of Palestinian flag|author=Andrew Wyrich|publisher=North Jersey Media Group|date=2016-04-17|access-date=2016-04-17}}</ref>