Study on Arab Americans in Chicago calls on not using “white” as racial category
"Data tells stories, and stories make an impact. This kind of data collection that we are demanding is to really ensure that our communities are serviced in the best possible way."
A recent WBEZ article highlighted findings from the latest IRRPP report on Arab Americans in Chicagoland. The report uses demographic research, surveys, focus group data, as well as expert commentaries by organizers and academics to analyze how systemic inequities and anti-Arab/anti-Muslim racism affect the lives of Arab Americans in employment, education, health care, housing, and policing. The report engages with the diversity of experiences among Arab American communities and their common challenge in navigating being at once hypervisible as a result of commonplace stereotypes as well as invisible due to being classified as white by government agencies and due to the general lack of knowledge about Arab Americans in our society.