An Egyptian immigrant wants the U.S. government to reclassify him as a black man, according to an article in TIME magazine Friday.
Mostafa Hefny emigrated from Egypt to the U.S. in 1978 and currently resides in Detroit. Upon his arrival to the states, the government interviewer told him, “You are now white,” said Hefny in an interview with CBS Detroit.
Hefny, however, has always classified himself as black.
“My classification as a white man takes away my black pride, my black heritage and my strong black identity,” Hefny told the Detroit News.
Hefny also told CBS reporters that he had been denied university teaching jobs because those positions had been set aside for minorities.
Hefny’s battle formally began in 1997 when he filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to be reclassified. That case was dismissed.
In June, Hefny asked President Barack Obama for help through a letter. Hefny also wrote letters to the Justice Department and the United Nations.
Most recently, Hefny took his cause to the Internet, establishing an online petition. As of Sunday evening, Hefny’s petition had garnered 306 signatures.
It does not make sense that the government would bar someone from identifying himself or herself a certain way.
Hefny sees himself as black. There is no point in indentifying him any other way. What right does the U.S. government have in dictating what constitutes whiteness or blackness or a person’s identity altogether?
Moreover, denying Hefny a job because he does not meet the race qualifications is ridiculous. Job applicants should be evaluated on their skills rather than their physical traits.
It will be interesting to see how many signatures Hefny’s petition receives and whether his story has inspired some ambitious attorneys to take up his cause.
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