[ti:US Government Rethinking Race, Ethnicity Classifications]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-03-18]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]The United States is considering updating racial and ethnic categories recognized in the country for the first time since 1997. 
[00:15.15]The government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plans to decide on the new categories next year.
[00:25.17]It is holding three meetings open to the public this week to discuss the issue.
[00:33.32]Supporters of the proposed changes say the new categories will help the government get more exact information about the country's population.
[00:47.46]The changes would create a new category for people of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry, also known by the acronym MENA.
[01:01.18]They are now classified as white but say they have been undercounted. 
[01:08.87]Another change would combine questions about race and ethnicity into one.
[01:17.47]With the changes, the government would try to get more detailed answers by asking about country of origin.
[01:28.29]Besides helping to give a picture of the U.S. population, the categories are used to enforce civil rights, voting rights and employment discrimination laws.
[01:44.64]The U.S. Census Bureau studies the population. 
[01:49.68]It carries out a count every 10 years and collects other information about the country's people. 
[01:59.64]The study includes questions about race and ethnicity and must follow OMB definitions of such.
[02:11.02]Currently, it includes five categories of race. 
[02:16.27]They include White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
[02:31.48]The most recent Census study was in 2020. 
[02:35.98]The Census Bureau website states that the categories "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country." 
[02:49.30]And the agency notes that "People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture."
[03:00.75]The OMB has collected more than 4,300 comments about the possible changes.
[03:10.51]Shalini Parekh wrote that she wants a way for South Asian people to identify themselves differently than East Asians from places like China or Japan. 
[03:27.85]She said that when these groups are put into only one category, it is harder to identify issues that relate to one group but not another.
[03:41.55]Nyhiem Way said he is tired of people mixing the terms African American and Black.
[03:51.18]He and others want to distinguish descendants of enslaved people from black immigrants from Africa who were not enslaved.
[04:04.98]Mixing "African American" with "Black" has "blurred what it means to be an African American in this country," he said.
[04:18.10]Way works for a pharmaceutical company in Athens, Georgia, and spoke about the issue in a telephone interview.
[04:30.81]However, some people disagree with expanding categories and classifications. 
[04:38.87]They say that could weaken the idea of a single American identity and increase separation between groups.
[04:49.96]"By creating and deepening sub-national identities, the government further contributes to the decline of one national American identity," wrote Mike Gonzalez, an expert at The Heritage Foundation, a research and education group based in Washington, D.C. 
[05:16.97]He commented on the OMB web page seeking public opinions on the proposed changes.
[05:25.61]Byron Haskins is a retired government worker from Lansing, Michigan. 
[05:33.21]He suggests the U.S. stop using racial and ethnic identifications. 
[05:41.39]Haskins says the practice supports the continuation of "deeply rooted unjust" social systems and ideas.
[05:54.11]Instead, he said people should be able to identify themselves as they wish.
[06:01.74]"You need to search for the truth and not just stay with the old categories because someone decided, 'That is what we decided,'" Haskins said.
[06:17.25]But Houda Meroueh thinks that having more categories could be helpful. 
[06:24.58]She described herself as a 73-year-old Arab American woman.
[06:30.86]"When I go to the doctor's office, I do not feel they have the information necessary to understand my medical history or my culture," she said.
[06:44.48]"For all these reasons I want to be counted as who I am. Not as white."
[06:53.75]I'm Andrew Smith.