A new change is restoring dignity and belonging to one community, offering lessons in collective wellbeing.
Throughout America’s 250-year history, immigrant communities have driven the country’s success. Yet despite tremendous contributions, we haven’t had equal access to America’s promise of opportunity. Barriers that include xenophobia, racism, and colonialism have undermined our belonging and wellbeing. Researchers can partner with us to change that and strengthen our multiracial democracy by making those challenges visible. For the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) community, we are on the verge of that kind of research-driven progress – at long last.
Embracing My Identity to Drive Change
For me, this incredible moment is a culmination of a deeply personal journey. I grew up in Tehran, Iran. There, I dreamed of a future where I would thrive alongside my family, my friends, and my people. However, political upheaval forced me to leave my home country behind.
Arriving in Buffalo, New York in 2012, I pursued graduate degrees in urban and regional planning, with a focus on the intersection of food systems, public health, and community development. During my research I realized that dominant narratives about immigrants in food access studies did not reflect my lived experience or that of my community. I spent the rest of my educational journey trying to learn how to correct these inaccurate narratives.
After 14 years, I have come to realize that, while having the right data is essential, data alone is not enough. How researchers partner with communities to collect, shape and utilize those data matters too. Invisibility harms communities and excludes them from conversations, resources, and decisions that affect lives. But improving the wellbeing of our MENA neighbors in this country also requires understanding America’s history and impact in the MENA region and on MENA people. By helping researchers understand how they can support our communities in shaping their own narratives, together we can open a window into a world Americans know little about.
Too Visible and Not Visible Enough
Colonialism, “othering,” and distorted, stereotypic portrayals are not new; they date back centuries. Harmful, ignorant views have long made MENA communities a target of workplace discrimination, social exclusion, and hate crimes. Then the events of 9/11 fueled a particularly virulent form of racism against us, resulting in heightened surveillance and unfair immigration barriers.
Sanctioned discrimination prevailed in part because MENA communities have been invisible in research. Until recently, federal data combined those of us with MENA ancestry into the same category as White people. This made it difficult to tease out our health and socioeconomic status or to capture information about how our communities access resources and services. Lumping us with the White majority muted and diluted our voices. And it limited the ability of researchers and policymakers to understand our strengths and challenges.
This is finally changing. In 2024, after decades of advocacy by MENA communities, the federal government mandated that every federal agency, including the U.S. Census, establish a MENA box when it collects data on national origin, race, or ethnic identity. State and local governments, academics, and community-based researchers are likely to begin including the same box in their surveys. The MENA category covers 20 groups, from Algerians to Yemeni people. As a result, a wealth of new data about us will become available over the next few years. It will increase MENA visibility by painting a more accurate portrait of our lives.
Beyond the Box: True Community Partnerships
With RWJF’s support, the Center for Arab Narratives has produced Advancing Research with MENA Communities: A Guide. It offers tangible ideas for how researchers and the community can collaborate in non-extractive ways. For knowledge to accurately reflect local conditions, we must carefully consider the ways researchers gather, analyze, and apply data. Equitable and responsive research isn’t about knocking on doors and asking people to participate in a survey. It’s about building trusting relationships, an especially delicate task when people have strong reasons to be distrustful. Advancing Research with MENA Communities describes the long shadow imperialism’s legacy has cast in the United States. Acknowledging how events in our home countries have caused harm here in the United States is a step toward repair.
Repair also requires humility. Given deeply ingrained misconceptions about us, researchers must look inward and evaluate their own biases while investing time in understanding MENA history, culture, and the distinct circumstances our communities here face. Some of us have lived in the United States for generations; others are recent immigrants. We differ in language, religion, culture, and in the reasons we or our ancestors came here. MENA experiences are also deeply intersectional, encompassing identities across race, sexuality, and more.
Local social service and healthcare organizations are particularly important to MENA populations. Those organizations can serve as a bridge to researchers as they collaborate with MENA communities in designing research. This must happen early so communities can shape questions, share ideas for recruiting participants, and ensure the work generates data that are meaningful to the community. That requires research teams to engage in meaningful dialogue and become comfortable sharing power.
Committing to Collective Wellbeing
Honoring lived experiences moves us closer to ensuring everyone has a fair and just opportunity to thrive. RWJF’s approach to advancing health equity and cultivating a sense of belonging reflects our belief that our lives are interconnected and none of us can truly be well unless all of us are well.
Much of the guidance offered in Advancing Research with MENA Communities is equally relevant to other studies aimed at dismantling structural and systemic barriers to equity. Most marginalized groups face racism. Though our stories differ, our struggles are similar. We share the pain of how society has “othered” us and overlooked our roles in building this country.
Our stories are worth telling, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence offers a powerful moment to amplify them. As we honor our nation’s promise and the countless ways immigrants have helped realize it, we must also pursue the unfinished work of truth, repair, and transformation. Only by speaking our truth can we dismantle systemic barriers and replace toxic narratives. Together, we can celebrate our culture and history and acknowledge the contributions MENA communities have made to a shared vision of democracy.
