Iranian American organizations mobilized strategic census identity claims for political power

Evidence

It is very important that on Question 9 of the Census that you check the box for “Some other race” and write in “Iranian” or “Iranian American.” Otherwise, Iranian Americans will not be counted as a distinct cultural group in the U.S. and will not wield the power that comes with numbers. In other words, unless you specifically designate that you are “Iranian” or “Iranian American” when answering Question 9, you will not be counted as an Iranian American. For this reason, almost every Iranian American organization is encouraging Iranian Americans to designate their race as “Iranian or “Iranian American.” Without being counted as “Iranians,” we risk being disenfranchised both politically and economically for another 10 years. — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 1410

Categorization

• XREF: This is strategic essentialism in the archive — an organization telling a group to adopt an essentialist official identity instrumentally, against the grain of their assigned white category. Direct evidence for whether such ironic strategy is available collectively. — connects to: Iranian Americans deploy ‘Persian’ as a strategic workaround identity against stigma — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian…, 1470; Iranian American groups mobilized to instruct members to refuse the white box — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian…, 595
• DEFINE: Clear empirical example of strategic essentialism deployed by organized means rather than individual irony.

Broader Connections

• Iranian Americans deploy ‘Persian’ as a strategic workaround identity against stigma #expands (0.78) — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 1470
• Iranian American groups mobilized to instruct members to refuse the white box #exemplifies (0.75) — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 595