Final answer:
The Census Bureau allowed individuals to check more than one racial category but decided against adding a specific category for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) identity, leading people from the Arab region to be counted as 'white'.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Census Bureau decided against adding a category for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) as an option under the question of race for the 2020 Census. Although individuals were allowed to check more than one racial category to represent their racial mixture, the absence of a MENA category meant that people from the Arab region were typically counted as 'white'. The categories provided by the U.S. Census Bureau are based on self-identification and generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in the country, which includes racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. Five minimum categories are required: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, with the option to identify as 'Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish' as an ethnicity rather than a race.