Good evening or good morning I suppose whenever you are reading this I was accepted into a university in New Ork recently and while I was looking at my applicant profile I noticed that the stated ethnicity for my profile was African American. I quickly asked my parents if that was ok and they said that when they were helping me fill out my college application they selected that option. Note me and my my family were all born in Morroco for generations and moved to the states when I was about 10 but my skin isnât exactly what you would call black Iâm more tan. I donât think my parents knew what African American meant and they thought since we born in Africa and now live in America thatâs what we are. I am very concerned my college will see my lighter skin tone and say I am not black and a liar should I be concerned I truly do not want trouble.
Well, you are not AA. What university did you get into, and why were your parents doing your application? Are you a naturalized citizen? You would have been asked about where you were born, your school history etc which would all indicate your Moroccan years. Has that triggered any requests for your citizenship details? I would be surprised if it didnât.
Are you full pay at this uni?
" donât think my parents knew what African American meant"
Hmmm.
This is the second thread on this subject. Any reason for that?
I am citizen here in the states and on my college profile page it shows where I was born (in morroco) and I received some scholarhip from the school none of which being race based. I also feel that when I first asked I did not give enough details so I asked again gon het more answers.
Also I ask for help from my parents because they are my parents of course so I want theyâre help when doing official things.
In your other thread you said the box your mom checked said âblack/African American.â In the US, African American is a racial category that means black. In case people donât understand they helpfully include it in the question, as you noted. Is this the first time your mom has ever filled out anything that asks about race?
What can colleges do if they think you lied on your application? They can rescind your acceptance. Will they? Nobody here knows. If it bothers you email them and ask them to fix it.
You may have cause for concern, especially if you donât correct your error. Youâre not from the âAfrican Americanâ demographic, so the moral and ethical thing to do is to contact the school and disclose your error. Explain to them your/your familyâs initial misunderstanding of what âAfrican Americanâ meant. Admitting your mistake is likely to result in no more than them correcting your demographic info, and removing you from targeted lists for campus affinity groups if they donât apply to you. At worst, youâll lose any $$$ awarded for diversity purposes if you are honest and correct your error (but they may find that youâre eligible for other awards). Itâs not about how light or dark your skin is. Black people come in every shade, have every type of hair, body build, accent, etc⊠Nobody can eyeball you and tell if youâre black or not. Still, willful dishonesty, now that you know, is about YOU not what the school can/cannot or will/will not do. Are you an honest, upstanding, ethical person, or are you not?
Schools use demographic data for more a multitude of purposes. One of the those purposes is federal funding. Another is to track performance and outcomes (particularly for historically underrepresented communities). There are also many other considerations, including campus diversity, scholarship considerations, university resources, etcâŠ
Further, black Americans (aka âAfrican Americansâ) have a centuries old/multi-generational history in the Americas that has shaped our âNowâ, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. You donât share in that history or experience. You canât share it; you have a different history and experience. It doesnât sound like this is what your family did, but itâs become vogue for some non-underrepresented minority peopleâs to misuse demographic data to try to gain a perceived âadvantageâ in admissions, and access to private scholarship funds earmarked for historically oppressed groups. In other words, they want access to whatever benefits set aside, but they donât want their equal share in their generational pain & oppression, or current disenfranchisement and discrimination. Hence, why colleges take a very dim view of people who lie about demographics to gain admission to colleges and financial benefits that they otherwise might not have. Black people, in America, take a dim view of it too.
Some people would want the âleg upâ that they perceived my black son got during admissions, for example (never mind, he had to perform at or above the same level as every other applicant). But, I can promise you, they wouldnât trade places with him for anything, when walking into a store, or down the street.
Frankly your application will have been full of holes for the school to see you are not AA, as you were born in Morocco, a naturalized citizen, again, I would expect them to have investigated that part (did you have to provide your passport/naturalization details/birth certificate?). Your Moroccan school history was in your application.
Explain the further questions the school asked you/you asked the school? Again, which school? Is this an NY public? CUNY? SUNY? CC?
" I am not black and a liar should I be concerned "
Well sure, because your application has misinformation in it, call your admissions officer, you have one as you are admitted, also call your guidance counselor and ask her. You also have the internet, I assume, and a five minute search would have given you all sorts of help with this.
Do your mum and dad self identify as black?
I am going to contact my college and tell them about the mistake hopefully they can fix my credentials.
I think youâll be just fine! People whose character is solid, usually are! Much luck and success in all of your endeavors! 