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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION REQUESTING A MEETING OF THE COOK COUNTY LEGISLATION AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS ASIAN AMERICAN AND MENA DATA COLLECTION
WHEREAS, Cook County is one of the largest and most racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse counties in the country; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Government is committed to supporting equitable, inclusive and accessible government; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Government must collect accurate data to understand and serve the specific needs of its diverse communities; and
WHEREAS, Asian Americans include people whose origins and ancestries lie in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent; and
WHEREAS, Asian Americans include over 20 ethnicities speaking 2,300 languages and dialects; and
WHEREAS, there were approximately 409,000 Asian American residents in Cook County representing 7.7% of the County’s population according to the 2020 US Census; and
WHEREAS, Asian Americans experienced a 28.2% population increase, the highest population growth rate in Cook County between 2010 and 2020, according the US Census Bureau; and
WHEREAS, Cook County recognizes Asian Americans as a minority group; and
WHEREAS, Cook County recognizes the rise in anti-Asian hate and discrimination; and
WHEREAS, Cook County does not comprehensively or consistently collect data on Asian Americans; and
WHEREAS, MENA is a collective term for people whose origins and ancestries lie in the Middle East and North Africa; and
WHEREAS, MENA include 24 nationalities and ethnicities; and
WHEREAS, according to an analysis by AMVOTE PAC, there were approximately 167,000 registered MENA voters in Cook County; and
WHEREAS, Illinois has the 4th largest MENA population in the US and the Chicago Metropolitan area is home to the fourth largest urban concentration of MENA populations in the US, according to 5 Year American Community Survey data 2010-2014; and
WHEREAS, Cook County recognizes that the MENA community experienced a rise in hate and discrimination following 9/11 and subsequent US conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq; and
WHEREAS, MENA individuals are currently subsumed under the white Race category by the US Census Bureau, per directive of the US Office of Management and Budget; and
WHEREAS, the identification of MENA individuals as white does not reflect the identity or lived experiences of the MENA community; and
WHEREAS, Cook County does not collect data on MENA identified persons; and
WHEREAS, the lack of comprehensive and consistent data on Asian Americans and MENA population hinders Cook County’s ability to understand and serve these communities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners request the Offices Under the President and separately elected offices come before the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee to detail current Asian American data collection practices as well as the operational capacity for future MENA data collection; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that these offices meet with and provide a detailed report on their current data collection practices including any data collection documents that ask for racial or ethnic demographic information, whether they include Asian American or MENA categories or not, and provide these to the resolution sponsor(s) and the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Chair for distribution to the Cook County Board of Commissioners prior to their appearance before the Committee.end