Armenian-Americans Condemn Biden Administration’s Erasure of Armenians in Census Check
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region, the Armenian-American Action Network, the Pan Armenian Council Western USA, and dozens of Armenian organizations condemned the version of the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) checkbox released on Thursday by the Biden Administration’s Office of Management and Budget.
“The erasure of Armenians in MENA represents a significant violation of Armenian-American civil rights and a grave and historic injustice that has generational consequences for the Armenian-American community. Today, hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents are denied accurate representation on the U.S. Census and its resultant funding and services,” the coalition said.
“We maintain that over the past decade, the federal government has failed to engage Armenian organizations, scholars, and elected leaders in any step of the formation of the MENA checkbox. By not being invited to the table, the Census has produced an incomplete, inaccurate, and exclusionary MENA designation that will undercount, separate, deny funding and resources to, and fail to represent, hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents of Armenian descent. The Biden Administration and Census Bureau have failed to do their due diligence throughout the creation of the version of the category that was announced today,” the statement said.
“This move will have a centuries-long systemic impact. Lack of representation on the U.S. Census continues to have dire consequences for Armenian-American issues, needs, and priorities. The exclusion of Armenians from accurate federal Census classification means that millions of dollars of funding and resources are denied to Armenians each year as data drives policy SPD 15 excludes Armenian communities, so Armenians do not receive equitable protection of their voting rights. Armenian-American small businesses are the backbone of our communities. Still, business owners suffer from various cultural, linguistic, political, and spatial barriers, yet are not visible in the data. Meanwhile, Armenians are not protected by the Small Business Act. Armenian Americans continue to face hate crimes, marginalization, and discrimination. Still, they cannot fully address such realities because of a lack of classification, nor can governments and scholars demonstrate gaps in equality of opportunity. Centrally, Census classification determines federal, state, and local dollars, and lack of Census representation means Armenians are being marginalized across every level of U.S. society. The invisibilizing of Armenian communities in U.S. policy is an alarming trend that must be course-corrected immediately,” the statement said.
“The failure to engage Armenian-Americans in the MENA checkbox process is an affront to the civil rights of hundreds of thousands of Americans of Armenian descent. Armenian Americans have effectively mobilized to ensure their voice is heard in the revision process and, for years, executed culturally relevant outreach efforts for the U.S. Census,” said ANCA-WR Executive Director Sarkis Balkhian in response to Thursday’s decision.
“Today, the Biden Administration and the Census Bureau failed Armenian-Americans!” Balkhian added. “We reject this erasure and demand that this action is immediately rectified.”
Dr. Sophia Armen, a scholar of Middle Eastern-American Studies and Executive Director of AAAN, said that this move “indicates the Census Bureau and the Biden Administration has chosen politics over the needs of a large, historic, and vital community in the U.S. The failure to engage Armenian voices, including Armenian experts of the MENA region, is a massive error and miscalculation that will affect the everyday working Armenian family for generations to come. With these standards, what the government is saying to us as Armenians is, “You do not matter’ and that is deeply concerning.”
By the Census’ own numbers, Armenian-Americans specifically continue to be part of their MENA definitions yet now will have their Armenian identity erased, and Armenian data rendered even more inaccurate, undercounted, and invisible than before. This announcement today particularly has grave consequences for Americans of Armenian heritage, notably from Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Western Armenia, and will directly impact the future survival of the Armenian diaspora and its cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage over generations, both in the region and in the United States.
