Black? White? Asian? More Young Americans Choose All of the Above

Applying to College
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<p>This story in today's New York Times struck a chord with me. See <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30mixed.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30mixed.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>When my own son started kindergarten eight years ago, I looked around his classroom, which included many children from mixed-race backgrounds (even in our relatively white-bread town), and wondered, "How will these kids answer the ethnicity question on their college applications?" (Some of the ones I came to know best weren't a blend of just two races or ethnic backgrounds but several.)</p>

<p>Later, when I got involved in a grant-funded college counseling program in Queens, I found that advisees with heritages similar to those cited in the Times story were more the norm than the exception (e.g., Irish/Puerto Rican; Ecuadorian/Greek; Chinese/Polish; German/Indian; English/Haitian).</p>

<p>Many had fascinating stories to tell about how their parents met and married ... often when both Mom and Dad were young adults, new to the U.S. Most, too, had stories about overcoming obstacles on their roads toward college.</p>

<p>Yet it rankled me that those students who were able to tick off the "Hispanic" or "African-American" boxes would get a boost in the admissions process that my Chinese Pole or German Indian would not.</p>

<p>I long for the day when all admission officials realize that there are many forms of diversity and that the varied experiences that students will bring to their campuses may have little to do with ancestry or skin color. Some applications are now asking students directly about how they might diversify the community. But those nasty "Demographic" boxes, albeit always "optional," don't seem close to disappearing, nor are the "hooks" that come with making certain selections.</p>

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<p>It was always my understanding that people of all mixed races recieved a slight admissions boost, no matter what race.</p>

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<p>Welcome to my world. I was a pioneer in checking more than one even when you weren’t allowed to. I also took particular pleasure in answering for a different race on every form.</p>

<p>“Some applications are now asking students directly about how they might diversify the community. But those nasty “Demographic” boxes, albeit always “optional,” don’t seem close to disappearing, nor are the “hooks” that come with making certain selections.”</p>

<p>I innocently checked all that applied when applying as an undergraduate, and unwittingly received a scholarship for being part Hispanic. I was mortified because I didn’t want race-based aid, but I felt sad because, being the daughter of a poor single white woman, I also wasn’t in a position to give the money back. When I’m rich (hah!) I hope to start a scholarship based on economic status, rather than race.</p>

<p>When asked about my background for the recent grad-school application I submitted, I told them about my family without giving race-specific names, and about my children without mentioning the fact that they are even further from being one race (where do Persians fall? Asians? White? Middle-Eastern? They’re one people, 2,000 years old, and even they don’t have one box!).</p>

<p>I hope that someday, there will be a generic question: Do you feel you have been discriminated against and should receive special consideration because of that? Please explain.</p>

<p>Then people could choose. I would have chosen not to at the time; now, I might have applied to more upscale schools and mentioned our family’s socio-economic situation (abused wife left husband and had to start a career with two small kids, so we moved every two years).</p>

<p>Though, probably not. I didn’t mention it on my graduate school application, nor the fact that I worked my way through college. I think it sounds like complaining. Ultimately, life is unfair and we have to accept that. Asking for special exceptions is not the answer. Social change is.</p>

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<p>I’m biracial: half Asian and half white. I remember taking the PSAT last year as Junior and being really frustrated when I was only allowed to select one race.</p>

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<p>“I innocently checked all that applied when applying as an undergraduate, and unwittingly received a scholarship for being part Hispanic. I was mortified because I didn’t want race-based aid, but I felt sad because, being the daughter of a poor single white woman, I also wasn’t in a position to give the money back. When I’m rich (hah!) I hope to start a scholarship based on economic status, rather than race.”</p>

<p>^^^ So, you’re Persian and refused to 'fess-up when you were awarded a scholarship for Hispanic students? Also, fyi, scholarships based on economic status already exist (not to mention PLENTY of need-based aid for which the son or daughter of “a poor single white woman” would legitimately qualify).</p>

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<p>No, nyc, MmeZeeZee didn’t say she is Persian. She is multi-racial, with Hispanic being in the mix. </p>

<p>Organizations that award scholarships to students from specific racial backgrounds typically do NOT exclude those whose heritage may not be 100 percent the one for which the $$$ is being given.</p>

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<p>Et tu Sally? I know it rankles. All I can offer is that there are not nearly enough African Americans in the position to take advantage of the “bump”. Not far from here, the HS graduation rate among African American males is about 30 percent. I’m originally from Queens, and I’d be surprised if it’s much better. I know that’s not what CC is about, but that’s what rankles me. (Steps off soap box).</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure the 2000 census revealed that only about 2% of the US population identified as “multi-racial,” so I’m surprised that OP saw this as a big issue 8 years ago. The numbers will likely be higher for 2010, but I’d be surprised if they were significantly higher.</p>

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<p>I was surprised OP thought of race in college admissions when looking at a kindergarten class! I guess when you are into hammers, you see nails!</p>

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<p>Solution. Don’t check any boxes.</p>

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<p>My children are half-Persian. I myself am just married to one. My ethnic background is 50% Mestizo/Native American/Spanish and then a mix of northern European peoples.</p>

<p>Hispanic/White, in the broader context, though I don’t feel either. I attended one of the meetings of the minority club or whatever, and there were definitely people there whiter than me, but I still didn’t feel I belonged.</p>

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<p>That’s what I thought, but I got nothing when applying. Zip, zero, zilch. I post about this on the FAFSA-is-a-joke thread. I haven’t met many people making over $15k/year who have gotten such aid and no, we weren’t that poor.</p>

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<p>I couldn’t submit my most recent application without doing so, and as it was a required box (or so I assumed), as a high school senior I was not willing to risk being rejected for my inability to fill in a form.</p>

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<p>I find it hard to believe that the author’s first thought when she looked at kids from mixed-race backgrounds was “How will these kids answer the ethnicity question on the college application?” If it was then I fear she lacks a sense of cultural awareness and honestly she’s missing the biggest picture. </p>

<p>Also I find her last statement disconcerting. Of course there are many forms of diversity aside from race. But that doesn’t mean that racial diversity is also not important and that “nasty demographic” boxes need to disappear. It seems me as lacking in self-awareness to believe that there are many varied experiences that come from other areas, but not to acknowledge the differing cultural experiences one may have <em>because</em> of their race and nothing else. Let’s face it - we cannot forget or ignore the fact that race has been a huge barrier in this country to college admissions for many centuries, especially to Hispanics and African Americans. The black and Latino children who are entering college now have had grandparents who were legally barred from the colleges that their white counterparts’ grandparents went to. Not distant relatives - grandparents. Both of my parents were born before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed.</p>

<p>The demographics box isn’t just going to disappear. We as an American society have to do things to make it disappear (by which I mean race becomes so irrelevant to life in the U.S. that colleges don’t need to collect data on race, nor anyone else).</p>

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<p>I never said it was my “first thought.” Far from it. (Most every mother of a new kindergartner must check out the teacher first, and the bathroom is probably high on the list as well. :wink: ) But when one works in college admissions, it’s hard not to view the world through that lens … albeit perhaps a bit too often. But isn’t this true of most people in most jobs? (Even when I worked at Dunkin’ Donuts as a teenager, I used to inevitably compare the products in other doughnut shops and bakeries to the ones I sold … it wasn’t like I wanted to be thinking about doughnuts when I was off duty … )</p>

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<p>I think you missed my point. By asking students how they might diversity a campus, racial diversity would certainly still be on the list of potential responses, but–posing the question this way and not via checklist of racial and ethnic options–would send a clear message that there are many other kinds of diversity, too. And I believe that this message could be one way that we as a society can help to eventually extinguish racial discrimination because it suggests, “We value what is different about you, whether it’s your race, your nationality, your home life, or anything else that makes you special.”</p>

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<p>*Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity. Ask Michelle L</p>

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<p>Race doesn’t matter. Why should I, as a white female, be deemed less diverse just because of my creamy skin? The color of ones skin has little to do with life experience nowadays, except maybe in the South. Besides, a middle class white person could have had to live through so much more than a poor black kid.</p>

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<p>I had the same problem as allisonesque when I took the PSAT, but I don’t think the issue of the boxes is a huge one. Filling out a form doesn’t affirm nor deny your racial identity; I’m not any less white because I chose to check Asian on that day, nor am I any less Asian because I plan to call myself white on my college application forms. A box with an ethnicity in it does not sum up your cultural heritage and the diversity you could potentially bring. Similarly, it’s pretty much impossible for colleges to have a giant list of every possible race, and it’s more efficient to include the most common ones.</p>

<p>Rather, what I think is the bigger problem is the fact that preference is given to the so-called ethnic people in the first place. I agree that colleges should be diverse, but not racially. They should instead focus on diversity in terms of personalities and interests. Having a campus made up of many different types of interesting people should be a larger priority than a colorful one.</p>

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<p>^ ArtsyLover, are you serious? A middle-class family struggles more than a poor family? I laughed so hard because this is possibly the dumbest post in this thread.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss what she’s saying. Just because a family is relatively well-off economically doesn’t mean they don’t have their share of problems. What if there was a parent death, or the student suffers from a terminal illness, or abuse, or any number of issues? None of these are confined to just poor families.</p>

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<p>^ No one wants to live in near-impoverished conditions, such as wondering how to go to bed without feeling hungry or how to get around a city without a personal vehicle. Many lack adequate health insurance. I’ve grown up around low-income families, and their problems are often more dire than we can imagine. I feel truly blessed to be middle-class, knowing that I can come home to heat and food.</p>