Marguerite Dabaie

More on being #Palestinian in the US, or in this case, #Arab in general:

This is the questionnaire part of Mt. Sinai's website asking a patient's race. I'm very familiar with it. It is VERY specific in some ways (it has every combo of East Asian and African nationality there is), blankets other races into "American Indian" or "White," and completely ignores Arabs. I honestly have no idea where to file myself. As you can see, "Arab," "Palestinian," or even "MENA region" and the like are not on the list. Their "other" list is even mostly specific to Africa, which Palestine is not a part.

The representation is important in this case because there are conditions and diseases specific to the Arab community (exactly why it's important to know the makeup of other patients) that aren't being considered because we don't even get to call ourselves out on these things.

I've been filing myself as "White/Other" on this thing for years, and almost every time I go to the doctor, someone removes the "Other"--I guess they physically look at me and think I can't possibly be anything but White, because of deep perceptions. It's infuriating.

#health #CareEquality

Dec 1, 2023 at 6:03pmWeb
Show threadDaniel HernandezDec 1, 2023
@mrrg The US concept of race is super weird, to say the less. I was surprised when I realized that it is still used there.
Show threadMarguerite DabaieDec 1, 2023
@danielhz it's VERY weird and I hate it.
Show threadnebulosDec 2, 2023
@danielhz @mrrg Where are you from, and what do they use instead? I also find the american choice of race buckets weird as heck.
Show threadDaniel HernandezDec 2, 2023
@nebulos @mrrg I am from Chile. In general, the US classifies the ethnicity of most of the rest of America as Hispanic or Latinos. It is different when they talk about race, where they use the "other" and "mixed race" categories. To my knowledge, my ancestors include a mix between Chilean natives, and people who arrived from Spain to Chile between the 16th and 17th centuries. However, since Chile is receiving many immigrants from all over the world, it is difficult to know without a DNA scan.
Show threadDaniel HernandezDec 2, 2023
@nebulos @mrrg During the Spanish colony, they classified the people into Spanish (born in Spain and considered ethnically as a Spanish), Criollo (American-born, but with two Spanish parents), Indio (American native), Mestizo (born from a Spanish and an Indio or a Mestizo), Negro (dark skin slaves), and Zambo (with ancestors in both Indio and Negro classes). This classification defined a caste system that was used to determine people's rights. Only Spanish were citizens. Even criollos were not.
Show threadnebulosDec 3, 2023
@danielhz @mrrg It's very telling to me that the buckets that a state picks to describe its "races" are reflective of the history of that place. In modern day, does Chile commonly ask for race in various forms the way they do in the US? Or is that not as present?
Show threadDaniel HernandezDec 3, 2023
@nebulos @mrrg Nowadays, Chile does not follow the Spanish classification nor has a concept of race as in the US. Race is then never asked. The constitution states that all people are equal regarding the law. However, people can identify themselves with one of the 10 recognized first nations for political participation or other benefits. The Indigenous Law was stated in 1993 to protect their cultures, provide a framework for their political participation, and repair the crimes against them.