the united states census bureau is presently finalizing the ethnic classification of mena populations. middle eastern americans are counted as white on the census. in 2012, prompted in part by post-9/11 discrimination, the american-arab anti-discrimination committee petitioned the department of commerce's minority business development agency to designate the mena populations as a minority/disadvantaged community. following consultations with mena organizations, the us census bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new mena ethnic category for populations from the middle east, north africa and the arab world, separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. the expert groups felt that the earlier "white" designation no longer accurately represents mena identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization. this process does not currently include ethnoreligious groups such as jews, who originate from the levant, or sikhs, as the bureau only tabulates these groups as followers of religions rather than members of ethnic groups.