<p>I have somewhat of a peculiar ethical dilemma. I am one-eighth black and though I have had some introduction to that part of my heritage, honestly I pretty much identify as white. Moreover, I can certainly "pass" as white and come from an affluent enough family that I would more or less be shielded by any negative effects of racial discrimination. Basically, I am planning to put African American on my college apps to increase my odds for some of the upper tier schools but I hesitate to do so because I don't necessarily feel like Affirmative Action programs should help people like me as opposed to people who actually "deserve" it. In terms of the ethics of this situation, does anybody have any input about what I should put for my racial background? Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>This would be a good one to run by your college counselor at school. Applicants aren’t just a particular statistic, they are the sum of all the parts of their application. You are presenting a “package.” Remember, your competition will be listing everything they possibly can. Ask a few people who work in this area what their thoughts are. And good luck with your applications!</p>
<p>As a self-identified African-American on your college app, chances are your name will get added to the contact list of student associations for African American students. Would u feel comfortable attending those events as someone who:
Then don’t do it! You’re mostly white and you identify as such. You should put that you are white on the application. There’s no shame in wanting to rest on your laurels; to let your work speak for itself and get into these colleges based on merit.
I know a student who put that he was black even though he was 1/4th black and barely even looked african-american and he got into a ton of schools that his guidance counselor and his stats said he wouldn’t get into. He told me it was the best decision of his life and he’d do it again any day, and his guidance counselor stood by his decision.
But: He’d been selecting “black” on every standardized test he had taken through high school so that was another reason why. If you usually select “white” on standardized tests, idk if you should…if not, i would
Ignoring the ambiguity of that very last part, any ethics scholar would tell you that since you acknowledge that checking the AA box would be entirely for selfish reasons of improving your chances, despite your internalized belief that you do not really meet the criteria of what affirmative action was meant to address, it would be unethical. Not illegal, mind you, as I understand it. I am not sure what the Federal Government or your State Government might have on the books as far as old laws that defined when a person had to declare themselves to be black, and that might be interesting for you to look into.
But ethically, you truly answered your own question. It is always unethical to do something you feel is wrong in the greater sense simply in order to advantage yourself. It is even more so when others become disadvantaged by your actions, which in this case could easily be true. Given the small supply and large demand for spaces at these schools, your actions could be taking a spot from someone based on your deception. Again, perhaps not a deception in the legal sense, but certainly one in the moral sense given your own feelings and presumably your history of identifying yourself as white up until now.