As an Iranian applying to college right now, I, Armin Hamrah, feel that the options offered for a racial designation do not authentically represent my racial and ethnic identities, as well as those of the entire Middle Eastern North African (MENA) community. This petition is to raise awareness for the Common App Leadership Team to include a MENA box to better capture the depth and breadth of people like me for future application seasons in order for applicants to articulate their racial identity more easily.

The MENA community has a distinct identity that cannot be subsumed into the traditional White designation. Stereotypically, “whiteness” refers to people of European descent, and encapsulates a racial heritage defined by an experience of privilege in many settings. On a regular basis, people of color including the MENA community face physical assault, verbal harassment, racial profiling, denigrating slurs, and discrimination in many contexts. For example, as a child, I was often made fun of for the homemade ghormeh sabzi and other traditional Persian dishes I brought for school lunch. As I grew older, these microaggressions intensified, ranging from being incorrectly referred to as Muslim to being called a terrorist on a near-daily basis in my early teenage years. This is a regretfully common experience for people of Middle Eastern backgrounds and drastically differs from the standard treatment of White individuals. As such, labeling Middle Easterners as white fails to capture the fundamental differences between the White and Middle Eastern experience, particularly in America.

Additionally, in the US, minorities like MENA face cultural marginalization. For instance, in grocery stores, foods of different ethnicities are almost always isolated in their own sections, while the vast majority of aisle spaces are reserved for foods that appeal primarily to white "American," individuals of European heritage. Furthermore, the majority of MENA holidays (e.g., Nowruz) are not widely recognized such that people don’t get the day off of work or the opportunity to participate in public celebrations. In contrast, on “White” holidays like Columbus Day and Presidents’ Day, employees are given the day off and public celebrations like parades are ubiquitous. The essence and meaning of being white is not so much a white color as membership in the racially coded “in-group” as opposed to the perceived “other.”

As is clearly evident, my Persian culture and familial celebrations are far different from those of people traditionally referred to as “White.” Confining individuals of Middle Eastern descent to checking a box for White is an utter misrepresentation of our racial and ethnic backgrounds. In this manner, it is also disadvantageous to colleges seeking to improve the cultural diversity of their student body as well as to student applicants, whose diverse backgrounds are pigeonholed into inappropriate categories. After all, this allows colleges to get more accurate information about applicants during the admissions process—not only will making such modifications help colleges in their quest to create a diverse class but also help Common App better serve their mission.

Now, I recognize that the United States’ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not have MENA as its own racial category. But the fact that they aren’t up to date in terms of recognition of the diverse cultural heritages of American youth is no reason for the Common App to put both students and their collegiate partners in disadvantageous positions when application season rolls around. In its essence, the two organizations have vastly different purposes—one to serve the executive branch of the American government and the to promote access to higher education (particularly in the U.S.).

The Common Application has the capability to lead the way in normalizing the inclusion of further and adequate representation of MENA people. In making such strides, they have the power to provide equity, inclusion, access, and justice to the young scholars of a community eager to attend higher education. It shouldn't be the case for these students to use their precious essay space to provide such context when a simple addition to the demographics section will do the job.

Lastly, they have the potential to support a generation of minority students to use their true voice with confidence when applying to college. Sincerely, we, the MENA community, reach out to you for help in this way. Please spread this message along for the good of the Middle Eastern and North African communities.

Love,

Armin