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