With all the stories about Black people bleaching their skin, arguing over interracial dating and America’s ever-persistent promotion of the angelic (read: white) image in mainstream media, one Egyptian man living in Detroit proves that not everyone is quick to shun his or her blackness.
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After emigrating stateside in 1978, Mostafa Hefny (pictured) was shocked when his government-issued identification classified him as “white.” According to the Office of Management and Budget Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, citizens are designated as White if they have “origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa or the Middle East.”
This would make sense within the context of Hefny’s native country.
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In his despair, Hefny even sent a letter in June to President Obama asking for help. He enclosed his photo as further proof of his black roots. “I am a black man. My complexion is darker than yours. I was born and raised in Africa (Egypt) and you were not, yet you are classified as Black and I am classified at White.”
Despite what his papers say though, Hefny calls himself an Egyptian Nubian. He’s even started an online petition at SignOn.org to advance his cause.
We might have to side with Hefny here. Looking at his photo, we’re pretty sure the Detroit Boys In Blue will gladly show him how “white” he really is on any given Friday night.
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Egyptian Man Fighting To Be Considered Black By U.S. Government was originally published on newsone.com