Biden admin proposes to redefine 'white' in 'race and ethnicity data'

The Biden administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing a change to allow federal employees to identify themselves of "Middle Eastern" or 'North African" descent, instead of as "white."

According to a proposal filed with the Federal Register, the OMB proposed changes to the ethnicity and race data that it has used since 1977 due to people changing their preferences on how they identify.



The original 1977 directive stated that "The basic racial and ethnic categories for Federal statistics and program administrative reporting" are defined as "American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, White."

According to the OMB's proposal, there have been "large societal, political, economic, and demographic shifts in the United States," including "increasing ethnic and racial diversity," "an increasing number of people who identify as more than one ethnicity or race," and "changing migration patterns."

The OMB stated that many are requesting a new category separate from white people of European descent and that changes could affect the language that currently requires employees to identify as "white" if they have "origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa."

The agency’s proposal stated, "Presenters advocated for the Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) population to be recognized and respected by becoming a new and distinct minimum reporting category because, for example, many in the MENA community do not share the same lived experience as White people with European ancestry, do not identify as White, and are not perceived as White by others," and that a new "MENA" category would "recognize this community."

The OMB also is proposing to collect data by inquiring about ethnicity and race in a single question because many employees confuse the two terms on questionnaires.

Additionally, the agency is proposing replacing "Far East" with "East Asian" and no longer using the terms "majority" and "minority" because the terms "may be perceived by some as pejorative and not inclusive."

The purpose of the changes in data collection is to "ensure the comparability of race and ethnicity across Federal datasets and to maximize the quality of that data by ensuring that the format, language, and procedures for collecting the data are consistent and based on rigorous evidence."
 

The 1977 directive states that the collection categories shall be utilized for civil rights compliance reporting, general program administrative and grant reporting, and statistical reporting.

The agency is seeking public input on the proposed changes through mid-April.
 

Dr. Karin Orvis, Chief Statistician of the United States, said in a White House press release that the proposal comes after an Interagency Technical Working Group commenced last summer, "with the goal of ensuring that the standards better reflect the diversity of the American people."

"Comprising Federal government career staff who represent more than 20 agencies, the Working Group was charged with proposing recommendations for improving the quality and usefulness of Federal race and ethnicity data," Orvis said.