April is Arab-American Heritage Month and it comes with welcome news for the valley's rapidly growing Middle Eastern and North African population.
The federal government recently announced that a new, dedicated “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) category is coming to the next census and other federal forms that collect data on race and identity.
The population has historically been undercounted and underrepresented, which is why advocates have been pushing for this change for years.
The Empowered Arab Sisterhood, a sorority at UNLV, is thrilled about the change coming to the next Census and other federal forms. The sorority has become a home away from home for young Middle Eastern and North African women at UNLV, who feel the world hasn't always acknowledged their existence.
"It was really a big drastic change going from a place where everybody was like me and then moving here," UNLV student Loren Alkhazzouz said.
Born in Jordan, Alkhazzouz said she had to fill out a lot of paperwork when she moved to the states. A lot of times, it involved putting herself in a box she didn't fit in.
"When I first moved here when I was 16 in high school, people would just be like, 'you can just put Asian, you can put white. You can pick.' That's not really something I can pick," she said. "I want something of my own. I want something to say, 'ok, you are something and you count for something.'"
It's a feeling shared by her Jerusalem-born sorority sister Mayra Bandek, who said filling out federal forms has often felt alienating.
"Even sometimes I felt like putting 'other' if it was available because I didn't even feel comfortable putting white or Asian," Bandek said. "It doesn't feel like you matter to them."
They're celebrating the fact that they'll no longer be diluted into other populations and can stand as they are.
"It feels like I actually belong somewhere. There's a place for me too, not just for everybody else," Alkhazzouz said.
Nevada Assemblywoman Brittney Miller said collecting more specific data on the Middle Eastern and North African population can make a big difference in people's lives.
"It is long overdue. We look at our school district, we look at our communities and like every community, this data is what pulls in the resources and programs for education, healthcare, housing, employment, even FAFSA for students, all are based on numbers," Miller said.
Half-Black and half-Lebanese, the Democrat representing Nevada's Assembly District 5 has led a push to gather more granular data at the state level.
"It really was the government was never seeing me and it felt like the government was not interested in seeing me and my community," Miller said.
She said local governments can often act faster than the federal government — and that's exactly what she did in the last Nevada legislative session. This January, a new state law went into effect, requiring all Nevada government forms that collect data on race and ethnicity to include a Middle Eastern or North African question. Miller said seeing Gov. Joe Lombardo sign her bill into law was an incredible moment.
"Not just for me, but for many people in the community, friends and family, it was very validating. It was beautiful and it felt very nice to be recognized and acknowledged. It's the idea of value when someone properly sees you," Miller said.
While there's always room for more progress and recognition, these changes at both the state and federal level are bringing feelings of validation to a community that's long been overlooked and pushed into categories they don't identify with.
"Being able to pick 'Middle Eastern' is a very big achievement for us," Alkhazzouz said.
