New "Middle-Eastern" category

[rhayat1]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

[briann]

Why exactly would an Ashkenazic choose Middle Eastern?

What exactly does this have to do with whether or not someone is white?

[mord]

Who needs this category

[Spectator]

Who needs this category

Trolls who want to "prove" that JTF promotes racism.

[White Israelite]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

Then how can Arabs be considered a race? Today the term Arab can mean anyone be it ancient Greeks/crusaders that were stuck in the region, blacks in somalia or the bedouin in the negev.

Middle Eastern is not proper to class as a race or ethnic group, it's simply a region of mixed ethnic groups of people.

[rhayat1]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

Then how can Arabs be considered a race? Today the term Arab can mean anyone be it ancient Greeks/crusaders that were stuck in the region, blacks in somalia or the bedouin in the negev.

Middle Eastern is not proper to class as a race or ethnic group, it's simply a region of mixed ethnic groups of people.

But of course; the same could be said of Hispanics - and yet they still have their own category to check off.  This survey is not about race; it's about how we identify ourselves as an ethnicity.  Even though "Mideastern" cannot be regarded even as an "ethnic group" within the Middle East, it might be considered one in America.

edit: I just realized I contradicted myself.  In my original post, I should have used the term "ethnic group" instead of "race".  Sorry about that.

Some people seem to be offended by the question.  I don't understand why.  There is no "right" or "wrong" answer here.  Personally, I identify with the Middle East.  I consider it the cradle of Jewish civilization and I consider myself part of that.  Others might figure that, since their ancestors had lived in Europe such a long time, and have mixed with Europeans so much, they would check off "white".  Yet others might consider "Jewish" to be a separate category altogether and so they would check off "other".  As it stands, we Jews don't have enough votes to pressure the government into creating a separate "Jewish" category on the census.  I think I explained myself pretty well in the original post in this topic.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Why exactly would an Ashkenazic choose Middle Eastern?

What exactly does this have to do with whether or not someone is white?

Because before we ended up in "Ashkenaz" (part of Germany), these Jews came from Eretz Yisrael and Bavel (Babylonia)!   Both are clearly middle eastern locales.

All of the Jews who ended up not only in Ashkenaz but spread to different parts of france, western Europe, britain, and eventually ended up populating sizable tracts of Eastern Europe - All of these Jews originally came from the Jewish homeland Eretz Yisrael.

Even those Jews who came more immediately from Bavel (ie, some who came to Europe came from Bavel, or from either place by way of Italy, and most Jews who ended up in Spain -called Sephardim - came directly from Bavel)  All of these Jews' ancestors were originally in Eretz Yisrael, the land promised to Avraham as the homeland of the Jewish people.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Personally, I do not check white because my ethnicity is Jewish, first and foremost, not "european" or "white."   So I usually either leave such options blank or click "other" since there is NEVER an option to say Jewish.  Everywhere we have gone we were considered outsiders, yet in the one place today which is the most liberated and free land of the gentiles (America) where every minority under the sun is recognized and acknowledged and safeguarded by law etc etc, there is suddenly no longer any such thing as being a Jew distinct from everyone else and all other cultures.   Suddenly now when it's in vogue to give recognition to distinct cultures, they want to erase ours and say we are merely American or "white" because we sojourned in Europe for a few generations.   Sorry.   My ancestors were never white, and I'll never be white.  Nor black, nor arab, nor anything else but Jewish.  

I don't believe I would check 'middle eastern' because again it should say Jewish.   We are different from all other middle easterners as well, and our ethnicity is not defined by the mere location. 

[Moshe92]

I'm applying for colleges since I'm a high school senior, and some college applications are very specific about details such as ethnicity. One college (I think Harvard) had the category "white," and it also had the subcategories "European" and "Middle Eastern" under "white." I just chose European, but I guess I also could have chosen Middle Eastern depending on how far back you go in history (I'm Ashkenazi). I'm pretty sure David Ha'ivri is Ashkenazi, but he lists his ethnicity as "Middle Eastern" on his myspace page.

[syyuge]

Why I feel that all Middle-East should be named and made as Eretz Israel.
 

[HiWarp]

Have you guys seen the 2010 census form. Look at what they consider to be races. Personally, if Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Filipino... are all different races then I would have to choose "Other".

8. Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin
Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
Yes, Puerto Rican
Yes, Cuban
Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin — Print origin, for example,
Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on. C
9. What is Person 1’s race? Mark X one or more boxes.
White
Black, African Am., or Negro
American Indian or Alaska Native — Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.
Asian Indian
Chinese
Filipino
Other Asian — Print race, for
example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai,
Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on. C
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Native Hawaiian
Guamanian or Chamorro
Samoan
Other Pacific Islander — Print
race, for example, Fijian, Tongan,
and so on.
Some other race — Print race.

[briann]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

Then how can Arabs be considered a race? Today the term Arab can mean anyone be it ancient Greeks/crusaders that were stuck in the region, blacks in somalia or the bedouin in the negev.

Middle Eastern is not proper to class as a race or ethnic group, it's simply a region of mixed ethnic groups of people.

But of course; the same could be said of Hispanics - and yet they still have their own category to check off.  This survey is not about race; it's about how we identify ourselves as an ethnicity.  Even though "Mideastern" cannot be regarded even as an "ethnic group" within the Middle East, it might be considered one in America.

edit: I just realized I contradicted myself.  In my original post, I should have used the term "ethnic group" instead of "race".  Sorry about that.

Some people seem to be offended by the question.  I don't understand why.  There is no "right" or "wrong" answer here.  Personally, I identify with the Middle East.  I consider it the cradle of Jewish civilization and I consider myself part of that.  Others might figure that, since their ancestors had lived in Europe such a long time, and have mixed with Europeans so much, they would check off "white".  Yet others might consider "Jewish" to be a separate category altogether and so they would check off "other".  As it stands, we Jews don't have enough votes to pressure the government into creating a separate "Jewish" category on the census.  I think I explained myself pretty well in the original post in this topic.

Why would 'white' be an ethnicity then?  Also, the Middle East has a huge variety of completely different languages, religions, ethnicities; whereas Hispanic is a single ethnicity.

This is all just liberalism gone mad.  Liberals love to categorize people, so they can single them out as being marginilized/vitimized and push their us vs them agenda. They dont want people to be identified as 'American' or have any national identity.

[Ze'ev]

The eternal Question:  Are Jews white?   

It's been a while since I have had to answer any forms requesting ethnicity.  I do not remember ever seeing the designation "White" though...so maybe things are different today?

I always used to select "Caucasian" back in the day for schools and such.

[rhayat1]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

Then how can Arabs be considered a race? Today the term Arab can mean anyone be it ancient Greeks/crusaders that were stuck in the region, blacks in somalia or the bedouin in the negev.

Middle Eastern is not proper to class as a race or ethnic group, it's simply a region of mixed ethnic groups of people.

But of course; the same could be said of Hispanics - and yet they still have their own category to check off.  This survey is not about race; it's about how we identify ourselves as an ethnicity.  Even though "Mideastern" cannot be regarded even as an "ethnic group" within the Middle East, it might be considered one in America.

edit: I just realized I contradicted myself.  In my original post, I should have used the term "ethnic group" instead of "race".  Sorry about that.

Some people seem to be offended by the question.  I don't understand why.  There is no "right" or "wrong" answer here.  Personally, I identify with the Middle East.  I consider it the cradle of Jewish civilization and I consider myself part of that.  Others might figure that, since their ancestors had lived in Europe such a long time, and have mixed with Europeans so much, they would check off "white".  Yet others might consider "Jewish" to be a separate category altogether and so they would check off "other".  As it stands, we Jews don't have enough votes to pressure the government into creating a separate "Jewish" category on the census.  I think I explained myself pretty well in the original post in this topic.

Why would 'white' be an ethnicity then?  Also, the Middle East has a huge variety of completely different languages, religions, ethnicities; whereas Hispanic is a single ethnicity.

This is all just liberalism gone mad.  Liberals love to categorize people, so they can single them out as being marginilized/vitimized and push their us vs them agenda. They dont want people to be identified as 'American' or have any national identity.

As for whites, they can be both a race and an ethnicity.  Does this whole thing, of government categorizing people, make sense?  No.  As originally stated, I object to that concept.  "Hispanic" is certainly NOT a single ethnicity.  As even leftists are wont to point out, they are a very "diverse" group.  A "Hispanic" can be of any race.  He can be from any number of nations and he might not even speak Spanish, but some Amerindian language or even just English.  Yet they are all called "Hispanic" in the weird world of government (unless they commit a crime.  Then they are called "white").  So the same could be done with "Mideasterners."

[White Israelite]

Many Mid-Eastern Americans (not just Arabs, but Turks, Iranians etc.) are lobbying to have government recognize "Middle Eastern" as a racial group on government forms such as the census.  Personally, I think it's non of the government's business what race you are.  They have no reason to ask such questions except so that they can engage in their own discrimination, such as "affirmative action".  However, if they do add such a category, I'd like to know if my co-ethnics would avail themselves of this and mark themselves as "Mid-Eastern" since, obviously, our roots go back to the Middle East.

This poll is mainly directed at Ashkenazic or Sephardic Jews, whose immediate ancestry is from Europe - but who are ethnic Jews (as far as they know) - in other words, not the children of converts and not converts themselves.

Then how can Arabs be considered a race? Today the term Arab can mean anyone be it ancient Greeks/crusaders that were stuck in the region, blacks in somalia or the bedouin in the negev.

Middle Eastern is not proper to class as a race or ethnic group, it's simply a region of mixed ethnic groups of people.

But of course; the same could be said of Hispanics - and yet they still have their own category to check off.  This survey is not about race; it's about how we identify ourselves as an ethnicity.  Even though "Mideastern" cannot be regarded even as an "ethnic group" within the Middle East, it might be considered one in America.

edit: I just realized I contradicted myself.  In my original post, I should have used the term "ethnic group" instead of "race".  Sorry about that.

Some people seem to be offended by the question.  I don't understand why.  There is no "right" or "wrong" answer here.  Personally, I identify with the Middle East.  I consider it the cradle of Jewish civilization and I consider myself part of that.  Others might figure that, since their ancestors had lived in Europe such a long time, and have mixed with Europeans so much, they would check off "white".  Yet others might consider "Jewish" to be a separate category altogether and so they would check off "other".  As it stands, we Jews don't have enough votes to pressure the government into creating a separate "Jewish" category on the census.  I think I explained myself pretty well in the original post in this topic.

Why would 'white' be an ethnicity then?  Also, the Middle East has a huge variety of completely different languages, religions, ethnicities; whereas Hispanic is a single ethnicity.

This is all just liberalism gone mad.  Liberals love to categorize people, so they can single them out as being marginilized/vitimized and push their us vs them agenda. They dont want people to be identified as 'American' or have any national identity.

Hispanic is not a single ethnicity. Hispanic can refer to Criollo whites who speak Spanish, Mestizos whom are mixed with Spaniard and Amerindian, or pure Mayan/Aztec that speak Spanish. Brazil speaks portuguese which while having similarities to Spanish is still a different language.