Hey guys,
So not sure about this, lol. I was born in Ethiopia which is a country in Africa. and so were my parents. we immigrated to the US in 2003 and have since lived here. So for college apps, do I say I’m “african american” or “black”. I don’t really understand which one is the one that indicated you are actually from Africa.
please give me your inputs.
thanks!
Using the African American logic, I suppose a white person from South Africa that emigrated to the U.S. could identify as African American.
Therefore, if you were wanting to be specific about being of a certain race, I would figure that “black” would be the correct moniker.
In your case, however, both monikers would be technically accurate.
thank you @Nerdyparent . you have eased my qualms about whether it matters which moniker I choose.
Does it really matter? Aren’t the those distinctions included together on the same box to tick? And why do you have to “say” it after you have indicated it by ticking a box?
You are African-American if you are now a US citizen. You are simply Black if you are not a US citizen.
Does one choice assume better /higher/more beneficial financial status?
It doesn’t have to do with financial status at all.
I also think it’s to distinguish between people born in the US versus immigrating here from Africa.
If you’re a citizen, then African-American (because you’re an american)
If not, then you’re Black.
On the Common App there’s definitely a difference, because there was a box specifically for if you were born in Africa, i think it’s because MOST(not all, i know u of michigan is public, but the majority are private) common app schools are private and they practice affirmative action and also care about diversity of student population so for me I feel like in terms of them knowing who I am, there is a huge difference between being born in Africa and being born in America as an african american, when I indicate it on the app.
but for public schools like UC’s and cal states, especially cal states they can’t practice affirmative action and beyond that could probably care less about the diversity of their school. by care less i mean they don’t have the funds to have admissions officer waste time at looking at different ethnic backgrounds. That’s one of the reasons why Cal States don’t have personal statements; it’s because cal states don’t get the research based funding UC’s get to hire admissions staff to read essays. haha interesting fact, huh?
But although UC’s don’t practice AA, they allow you to write in your essay things that you had to overcome, etc… which kind of opens the door for them knowing your race and taking that into account. So for example, in my 1st essay for my UC personal statement i wrote about how being born in Ethiopia, Africa but being raised in the States has molded me into who I am and the vales I hold.
-i just got way off topic.
Thanks guys!
CSUs (other than CPSLO) admit frosh by calculating the eligibility index of each applicant:
https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/eligibility_index.asp
using HS GPA as calculated by:
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp
Applicants are then ranked by eligibility index within buckets defined by intended major, local area residency, and state residency. A threshold is determined to admit the number of students that is expected to yield the desired number of matriculants at the campus and each major.
Example past thresholds at SJSU:
http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html
No it’s not. It’s because black/African American people collectively use more than one designator to describe themselves and the people who wrote the form are trying to be inclusive. Some people identify as black, and others identify as African American, some people identify as both, but it’s all the same thing. An African-descended Ethiopian immigrant who is not a citizen could call themselves African American, and the identifier is the same. A European-descended/white South African immigrant who is currently a citizen is not African American.
It’s a racial identifier; it has nothing to do with citizenship or nationality.
It’s certainly a debate…
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/african-american-term-brief-history
Good question! I think that is up to you, though. It is your experience! Are you now American? Then you could be African American. Or Black.
Neither means African born. They are often used interchangeably, but obviously all Black people are not African “American”, so they should not be interchangeable. But they are.
You could just say that you were born in Africa in one of your essays. Easy to get the idea across, even if we have made the “designation” rediculously confusing:)
Good luck!
Haha! I am Ethiopian too! When I filled out my common app I identified myself as “African American.” Same to the UC Application. Like many others said, it is up to you what you are going to tick off. You aren’t gonna be reprimanded or penalized for it.
My friend put African American on his common app because he’s half Egyptian and of course Egypt is located in Africa but is he correct for listing that? I heard that with North African countries such as Egypt or Algeria or Libya that they are considered White/more towards middle eastern
Does your friend have ancestry with the Sub Sahara Africa? Then, yes he can identify as Black. Has he identified himself as such before college apps such as in his school records?
I knew a family from Egypt who would in no way identify as Black but as Middle Eastern because of the ancestry. Another family that I knew were from Ethiopia and identified as Black because of their ancestry. It really depends.
But advise your friend not to identify as African American or Black unless it’s genuine. Ad counselors will see right through that.
@HRSMom yes, one of my essays is about being an ethiopian-american so i think i’ll get the message across. thanks everyone!
The categories come from the federal government data reporting regulations and were definitely intended to be inclusive, rather than to create some artificial distinction between black and african-american (the department of education specifically recognizes that students might use either or both terms).