The White House is proposing a new racial category for people of Middle Eastern or North African descent. The White House Office of Management and Budget advanced a proposal that would create a new Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) reporting category for the 2020 census. The definition of “Middle Eastern and North African” is pending as it currently covers everywhere from Morocco to Iran, USA Today reported. The MENA category was created with the intention of not only including members of the Muslim faith or just ethnic Arab-Americans. "What it does is it helps these communities feel less invisible," Helen Samhan of the Arab American Institute told USA Today.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 01, 2016 01:18 UTC