Growing up, my parents told me I was white. I checked white on college applications. But that was at odds w/ my life experience. As I got older, I realized my story wasn’t unique. I explored these questions of identity in my latest for @latimes latimes.com/projects/la-me… #2020census

Roughly 3 million people of Southwest Asian, Middle Eastern or North African descent live in the United States, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by @emsimani. No county is home to more of these communities than Los Angeles, with more than 350,000:

MENA/SWANA communities have been lobbying the census to make a change for years + have asked for their own race box on the census. Many of the services people rely on are tied to funds from the census. They say being lumped under white does them a disservice.

One person said having the gov label him as white “stigmatizes our position in society. We have no recourse. We have no way to talk about diversity or discrimination because if we’re white, we can’t be discriminated against based on race...so we’re left in this gray area.”

Anyway, come for the great data crunching and graphics by @emsimani and @palewire...stay for me getting “khalas” into a @latimes story alongside “aspirational whiteness.” Stories like this are why media representation and newsroom diversity matter.

Catch my story with @emsimani on the front page of @latimes today! I’ve really been enjoying all your responses about MENA identity and discussions on feeling erased because you have to choose “white.” Please keep them coming! (Or read the piece online latimes.com/projects/la-me…)