ABSTRACT The identity of Americans of Arab or Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent has been relatively understudied within the U.S. racial landscape. Given that the U.S. Census categorizes individuals of MENA descent into the “White” racial category, it is unclear the extent to which Arab/MENA Americans believe they are an ethnic minority in the United States. The current study surveyed 146 individuals of Middle Eastern and North African descent to answer two primary questions: 1) Would you call yourself an Arab or Arab American? 2) Do you consider yourself a minority in the U.S.? Findings indicated that 84% of the current survey participants consider themselves an ethnic minority and 51% are comfortable with the Arab American label. In addition, open ended responses were analyzed to determine the reasons participants answered yes or no to the aforementioned questions. Several themes emerged for each question based on endorsement including the accuracy of the Arab label, and Arab pride, among other themes. In addition, many felt that they were an ethnic minority in the U.S., specifically mentioning experiences with discrimination and lack of representation. Implications of study findings will be discussed.

中文翻译：

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阿拉伯或中东和北非裔美国人的身份和民族/种族自我标签


摘要 在美国种族格局中，对阿拉伯或中东和北非 (MENA) 血统的美国人的身份研究相对较少。鉴于美国人口普查将中东和北非地区的人归入“白人”种族类别，目前尚不清楚阿拉伯/中东和北非美国人在多大程度上认为他们是美国的少数族裔。当前的研究调查了 146 名中东和北非血统的人，以回答两个主要问题：1) 您会称自己为阿拉伯人还是阿拉伯裔美国人？ 2）您认为自己在美国属于少数族裔吗？调查结果表明，84% 的当前调查参与者认为自己是少数族裔，51% 的人对阿拉伯裔美国人的标签感到满意。此外，还对开放式回答进行了分析，以确定参与者对上述问题回答“是”或“否”的原因。根据认可，每个问题都会出现几个主题，包括阿拉伯标签的准确性和阿拉伯自豪感等主题。此外，许多人认为自己是美国的少数族裔，特别提到了受到歧视和缺乏代表性的经历。将讨论研究结果的意义。