Why MENA but not south Asians? I cant help but think Justin Amash being in the same grouping as me is much less weird than Chinese and Indians somehow being the same race.
I agree that South Asians should be split off from the broader Asian category (the word is used to mean East and Southeast in Colloquial American English) before MENA is split off from White/Caucasian. Race really is a social construct…
I do agree in the US context separate South Asian and East Asian categories (maybe with also a separate Southeast Asian category or East/Southeast Asian as one category) would probably make some sense, but I bet there is political pressure behind the scenes to keep a single Asian category to promote Asian influence and reduce pillarization.
