Hello:

The GMI Data did not adopt the alternative for middle east customers.

So, if we have an Arabian customer is correct that he choose Not Hispanic for Ethnicity and White for Race?

But he read the application and he want to be identify as Arabian.

Any alternative?

Anything the applicant wants to identify as and check is "correct" for HMDA purposes. The only free form fields where someone could type in "Arabian" (as he seems to want to) aren't located under the "White" racial designation.

Since Saudi Arabia (i will assume the gentleman is from there, or traces his roots to there, since you call him Arabian, and not "Arabic") is in Asia, perhaps he would want to choose "Asian" and then in the free form field write in "Arabian".

It baffles me that if a person is white or black, that's it......no other choices or sub-categories.. Most Arabs are considered to be Caucasian. So why are there no options under "white" to select a sub-category or write something in?

The whole thing is pretty stupid really.......you can be "white" and "Asian" at the same time. They obviously want people to do whatever they feel like doing on the DI, so just let them fill it out in whatever way suits them.

We had a French guy apply who wanted to indicate that he was French, not just white, so he marked the "White" option, then also filled in the free form text field under the "Other Asian" option. It will look really weird, but that's how we will report. The free form options are a joke anyways. They can't be aggregated and they won't be included in public data, so they are useless.

Besides........"French" is a nationality....not an ethnicity or a race. JMO

But you can say the same thing about most of the 'suggested' terms they list on the free form fields. "Colombian" isn't an ethnicity or race either, nor is "Thai".

Basically, the way things are today.....something is a "race" or "ethnicity" if the CFPB says it is......and it isn't if the CFPB doesn't say it is. Really not a black and white issue (no pun intended) at all.