{"id":1441018,"date":"2024-01-12T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicintegrity.org\/?p=126817"},"modified":"2024-01-12T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T12:30:00","slug":"more-states-are-pushing-for-race-and-ethnicity-data-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/01\/12\/more-states-are-pushing-for-race-and-ethnicity-data-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"More States are pushing for race and ethnicity data equity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Vector<\/figure>Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Middle Eastern and North African people in Nevada who are often misclassified as white or undercounted by state service providers will have a choice to self-identify for the first time under a new sub-category that more accurately represents them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Jan. 1, a new state law<\/a> requires that all government agencies in Nevada collecting demographic information on race or ethnicity include a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) question. Assemblywoman Brittney Miller, a Democrat representing Las Vegas, introduced the proposal last year. It passed with bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe numbers of people of MENA descent are diluted and absorbed within other groups, rendering us almost invisible,\u201d said Miller, whose father is Black and mother is Lebanese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lebanese, as well as Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Egyptian, were listed in the 2020 Census with German, Irish and English under \u201cwhite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller said countless people in the state who are split among white, Black, Asian or Arab race and ethnic categories now have the choice to check a MENA box that captures the shared culture of this diverse and growing population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts and Nevada passed laws in 2023 to collect race and ethnicity data at a more granular level than the five racial and two ethnic categories mandated by the federal government since 1977. The additional data is part of a growing effort by states to collect detailed and accurate data that would help agencies identify gaps and trends in services including education, housing and healthcare of marginalized groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 17,000 Arabs live in Nevada, a 42% increase in the past two decades, according to census data. These statistics make Nevada\u2019s Arab population one of the fastest-growing in the nation. The Arab world comprises 22 countries, primarily in the Middle East and North Africa, coming from vastly different cultural, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. While Arabs make up the largest group in the region, other ethnic groups with a significant presence include Persians, Kurds and Armenians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis bill sends the message that our state recognizes, values, and counts our Nevadans of MENA descent,\u201d Miller said. <\/p>\n\n\n

Disaggregating Data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Meeta Anand, senior director of census and data equity at the Leadership Conference Education Fund, said documenting accurate race and ethnicity data at the state level can help address differences in access, enrollment and experience of social service recipients and even save lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Education Fund is the research arm of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an advocacy group promoting civil and human rights protections in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen used effectively, disaggregated demographic data can help health programs and health systems address both historical inequities and provide high-quality, individualized, culturally competent health care,\u201d Anand said during a recent press conference<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late 2020, Santa Clara County, south of the Bay Area, began collecting detailed data on COVID-19 rates. The data showed the virus was hitting Filipino and Vietnamese people at a higher rate when compared with other Asian American groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Asian Health Services<\/a>, a federally-qualified community health center in neighboring Alameda County, found around the same time that Vietnamese residents had nearly twice the case rates of the aggregated Asian American population, according to Anand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A response team began conducting targeted education to the impacted communities and outreach to other targeted areas across the state. Soon after, the positivity rates leveled out for this group, Anand said at the press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHad collection been limited only to aggregated data under, for example, a broad Asian and Pacific Islander category, lives would have been lost,\u201d Anand said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In California, a law implemented in 2012<\/a> requires state agencies to document detailed data for Asian and Pacific Islander groups listing an array of ethnic and racial groups, including Chinese, Filipino, Guamanian, Japanese, Vietnamese and Samoan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting this year, state agency applicants in California will also have the option<\/a> to identify as descendants of people who were enslaved in the U.S., African Blacks, American Freedmen and Caribbean Blacks.<\/p>\n\n\n

Beyond the Federal Standard<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Today, 13 states require race and ethnicity data beyond the federal standard, according to a report by the Education Fund titled \u201cDisaggregation Nation<\/a>,\u201d published in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n