Egyptian Immigrant Wants to be Reclassified as Black | TIME.com http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/07/egyptian-immigrant-wants-to-be-re...

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Black Japan's Booming Sex Niche:

Mostafa Hefny feels he's been black his whole life. The U.S. government doesn't agree. Elder Porn

By Aylin Zafar @azafar Sept. 07, 2012

Like 2.3K Tweet Share 9 Read Later

Young Kids, Old Bodies

Anyone whos ever filled out a census document or

taken the SATs is familiar with that odd moment
when you have to bubble in your racial classification.
For many, the choices are confusing, limiting, and
Benedict Cumberbatch Talks
problematic. In the end, each person bubbles in what Secrets, Leaks, and Sherlock
they best feel represents their identity. But when
Mostafa Hefny immigrated to the United States from
Egypt in 1978, he didnt get a say in that decision.

Obama's Trauma Team

The government [interviewer] said, You are now
white, Hefny told CBS Detroit.
Max Ortiz / Detroit News / AP

Since the 1980s, CBS reports, Henfy has been Dr. Mostaf a Hef ny
fighting to have the U.S. government reclassify him Get all access to digital and print SUBSCRIBE
as black, which is how hes always seen himself. My
classification as a white man takes away my black pride, my black heritage RELATED
and my strong black identity, Henfy told the Detroit News. M ost Popular
Detroit immigrant f ights to be
FROM NEWSFEED
classif ied as black Detroit News
Hefny, 61, filed a suit in 1997 against the U.S. government to be reclassified,
but his case was dismissed. Hefny has also reached out to President Obama Detroit Immigrant Wants To Be 1 Inside The Billion Dollar Matrix Lawsuit, One of the
for help, writing him a letter on June 29, the Detroit News reports, as well as Re-Classif ied As Black CBS Internets Most Perv asiv e Legends
Detroit
the Justice Department and the United Nations.
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Rock Star
I have been awarded, inadvertently, the negative effects of being black such
as racial profiling, stereotypes and disenfranchisement due to my Negroid Email Print

features. However, the legal demand of my racial classification of white Share

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Hours?
prevents me from receiving benefits established for black people, he told
CBS. Hefny says hes lost out on university teaching positions because they Follow
were positions designed for a minority and he did not qualify. @TIMENew sfeed 4 Sev en-Year-Old Boy Hears f or the First Time

Currently, Directive 15 for the federal Office of Management and Budget

5 This Easy Test Will Tell You What Career You
Should Choose Based on Your Skills
Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity defines race by the following categories:
Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black of African American, Native Hawaiian or Other
Pacific islander, White, Nonresident alien, Resident alien, and Race/ethnicity unknown. FROM TIME.COM

(READ: Should the Census Be Asking People If They Are Negro?) 1 Russian Forces Double Along Ukraine Border

White is defined as a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North 2 Gangs of Powerf ully Built Women Are Mugging
Tourists on the Streets of Hong Kong
Africa which is why the U.S. government classifies Hefny as such. However, the desgination for Black or
African American applies to a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. According to
CBS, Hefny says that he is descended from the Nubians, the ancient group of Egyptians from the northern part of 3 Putin Phones Obama To Discuss Ukraine, White
House Say s
Sudan and southern part of Egypt.

An article by Charles Whitaker in Ebony in 2002 entitled Was Cleopatra Black? explored this topic of racial
4 Colbert Tweet Draws Accusations of Racism and
#CancelColbert
classification in Egypt, and found that, among scholars, discussions of Cleopatras race were so couched and so
guarded that professors even fear engaging in the discussion publicly.
5 Theres A Scientif ic Reason f or Why You Look
Weird In Self ies
Cleopatra is one of those figures whose race often depends on the lens you use to view her, Julia Perkins,
associate directors of community programs for the Art Institute of Chicago told Ebony. Whitaker talked to various
scholars who all found classifying Cleopatra to be full of complexity, full of odd historical twists, and that there was
no real, easy answer. Her fathers mother may have been a concubine from Nubia, Whitaker writes, so that would

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Egyptian Immigrant Wants to be Reclassified as Black | TIME.com http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/07/egyptian-immigrant-wants-to-be-re...

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and Nubian Advocates to drum up support for his cause. Hes posted a petition online, and currently has collected
188 signatures. Follow @TIME 14.4M followers Like 12M

MORE: How to Read Political Racial Code TIME

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