Latest Breaking News

United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923)

U.S. Supreme Court
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923)
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind

No. 202

Argued January 11, 12, 1923

Decided February 19, 1923

261 U.S. 204

CERTIFICATE FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

1. A high caste Hindu, of full Indian blood, born at Amrit Sar, Punjab, India, is not a "white person" within the meaning of Rev.Stats., § 2169, relating to the naturalization of aliens. P. 261 U. S. 207.

2. "Free white persons," as used in that section, are words of common speech, to be interpreted in accordance with the understanding of the common man, synonymous with the word "Caucasian" only as that word is popularly understood. P. 261 U. S. 214. Ozawa v. United States, 260 U. S. 178.

3. The action of Congress in excluding from admission to this country all natives of Asia within designated limits, including all of India, is evidence of a like attitude toward naturalization of Asians within those limits. P. 261 U. S. 215.

Questions certified by the circuit court of appeals, arising upon an appeal to that court from a decree of the district court dismissing, on motion, a bill brought by the United ,states to cancel a certificate of naturalization.

(snip)

Detroit Immigrant Wants To Be Re-Classified As Black

September 4, 2012 / 10:03 AM EDT / CBS Detroit

(snip)

Hefny is brown-skinned with curly hair. The 61-year-old was born in Egypt and came to the United States in 1978. When he was admitted to the country, he was classified on government papers as a white person, Hefny said.

"The government (interviewer) said, `You are now white,"' said Hefny, who said he is a Nubian, an ancient group of Egyptians considered more African than Arab, from the northern part of Sudan and the southern portion of Egypt.

A white person is defined as "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa or the Middle East," according to Directive 15 for the federal Office of Management and Budget Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.

(snip)

Next U.S. census will have new boxes for 'Middle Eastern or North African,' 'Latino'


March 28, 2024 8:44 AM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Hansi Lo Wang

(snip)

The "White" definition has changed, and "Latino" is now a "race and/or ethnicity"

OMB's decision to change its statistical standards on race and ethnicity for the first time in more than a quarter-century also marks a major shift in the U.S. government's definition of "White," which no longer includes people who identify with Middle Eastern or North African groups such as Egyptian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Jordanian, Kurdish, Lebanese, Moroccan, Palestinian, Syrian and Yemeni.

That move sets up "Middle Eastern or North African" as the first completely new racial or ethnic category to be required on federal government forms since officials first issued in 1977 standards on racial and ethnic data that the Census Bureau and other federal agencies must follow.

For more than three decades, advocates for Arab Americans and other MENA groups have campaigned for their own checkbox on the U.S. census and other government forms, and recent research suggests that many people of MENA descent do not see themselves as white, a category that the federal government previously considered to include people with "origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa."

(snip)