Bill making Illinois first state to count Arab Americans in public data signed into law
The above video is from a previous report.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Illinois will be the first state to count Arab Americans when collecting public data after Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation on Friday.
With the bill's enactment into law, Arab Americans and minority groups from the Middle East will be separately recognized. The legislation creates a "Middle Eastern or North African" (MENA) category for state data.
"This information will allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the experience our communities face and will give us the tools we need to develop better policies," said State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill, in a statement.
The amendment will require agencies to include the MENA category in addition to white, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander when reporting statistical data on ethnic or racial categories.
The data collected is used to inform local programs, funding, and policy.
The requirement will go into effect for most state agencies on Jan. 1, 2024, with the exception of the Department of Central Management Services, which will make the change by July 1, 2025, Rashid said.
CBS 2 has reported for years on the devastating impact of data not being collected on this group, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Arabs were among those dying at high rates in Illinois, CBS 2 found city and state agencies did not have a separate category tracking this information like they do for other groups. Therefore, organizations struggled to obtain funding for resources.
The need for a MENA category was also underscored in a recent study from the University of Illinois Chicago. The report detailed how Arab Americans across Chicagoland experience discrimination and inequities in all areas of life. But the authors said because their experiences are not quantified, this group is not being served by organizations and government agencies.
After CBS 2's initial story in May of 2021, the State of Illinois added a new category for Arab Americans to collect data on vaccinations. Leaders of community organizations believe this showed the state can collect data on Arab Americans across all categories without waiting for the Census to make the change on the federal level.
