Edited sentence: A flaw in  the  official US government parameters for race is that it gives national origin a racial value.Given the differences between common US understandings of white versus the official parameters, it can be somewhat problematic for peoples of Middle Eastern and North African heritage, who for one reason or another are not commonly seen in social circles as white but are encompassed in the official definition.Reasons for this may include the heterogeneity of their populations, religious, linguistic or ancestral differences