Money Stunna
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 9, 2011
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Detroit Man Livid Because Government Classifies Him as "White"
Does the man in the picture look black to you? A lot of people might say "yes." But this immigrant in Detroit has spent 30 years trying to get the government to see him for what he knows that he is: A black man.
Mostafa Hefny can't, for some reason, get the US government to change his racial designation. He has even reached out to President Obama for assistance, and has been fighting on the issue since he arrived to the United States from Egypt. Thus far, the federal government has classified him as white.
"As a black man and as an African, I am proud of this heritage," Hefny told the Detroit News. "My classification as a white man takes away my black pride, my black heritage and my strong black identity."
Hefny was born in Egypt and says that when he arrived in the US, the interviewer from the government told him, "You are now white." According to the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa or the Middle East" is classified as "white." This is confusing and sad for darker-skinned immigrants who come from these places.
Hefny says that he is Nubian, from the northern part of the Sudan. He says that he's been denied promotions after demanding that he be recognized as a black man. He could not get a teaching position at Wayne State University because the job called for a minority.
"I have been awarded, inadvertently, the negative effects of being black such as racial profiling, stereotypes and disenfranchisement due to my Negroid features," Hefny said. "However, the legal demand of my racial classification of ‘white' prevents me from receiving benefits established for black people."
Hefny is campaigning online to get his designation changed. The Association of Black Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Nubian Advocates has an online petition on his behalf. The petition thus far has only collected 30 signatures, but he's got our vote.
Does the man in the picture look black to you? A lot of people might say "yes." But this immigrant in Detroit has spent 30 years trying to get the government to see him for what he knows that he is: A black man.
Mostafa Hefny can't, for some reason, get the US government to change his racial designation. He has even reached out to President Obama for assistance, and has been fighting on the issue since he arrived to the United States from Egypt. Thus far, the federal government has classified him as white.
"As a black man and as an African, I am proud of this heritage," Hefny told the Detroit News. "My classification as a white man takes away my black pride, my black heritage and my strong black identity."
Hefny was born in Egypt and says that when he arrived in the US, the interviewer from the government told him, "You are now white." According to the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa or the Middle East" is classified as "white." This is confusing and sad for darker-skinned immigrants who come from these places.
Hefny says that he is Nubian, from the northern part of the Sudan. He says that he's been denied promotions after demanding that he be recognized as a black man. He could not get a teaching position at Wayne State University because the job called for a minority.
"I have been awarded, inadvertently, the negative effects of being black such as racial profiling, stereotypes and disenfranchisement due to my Negroid features," Hefny said. "However, the legal demand of my racial classification of ‘white' prevents me from receiving benefits established for black people."
Hefny is campaigning online to get his designation changed. The Association of Black Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Nubian Advocates has an online petition on his behalf. The petition thus far has only collected 30 signatures, but he's got our vote.
