<p>i don’t identify as African American so why would I check the box? in the first place. i didn’t tell anyone else not to check it, i said i don’t feel comfortable checking it myself. but affirmative action policies are meant to give a boost to underrepresented and sometimes underprivileged minorities, people who are likely to have suffered discrimination whether they have slave ancestors or not. and i don’t feel myself to be included in that category. if i haven’t suffered from racism, why should i benefit from a policy meant to offset the detrimental effects of it? sorry for the wake up call, but people still DO discriminate based on skin color, which is exactly the point of these programs. if arab american were a box, i would check it, but i think it’s ridiculous to pretend that african american isn’t widely understood as referring to black people.</p>
<p>so all you guys who posted here…can you chance me..lol</p>
<p>yasi: You didn’t understand my point. My point is that though the term ‘African American, African, Black’ is generally used to describe a black person, it is by no means exclusive to only black skinned people and/or people who may have suffered discrimination and college admissions know that, and they don’t just assume that everyone who checks African American is black. I was just saying that Egypt is clearly in Africa there is no doubt about it (not Asia, America, Mexico) so why would it be a joke to check African American. South Africa too. This the downside of affirmative action. Many Africans choose to not reveal their race because of fear of ‘discrimination’ against or even for their benefit. As for you checking ‘other’ or ‘arab’ I could care less.</p>
<p>I agree with Aoibheal ^.
I used to check Asian, but people would assume oriental…however I notice that people are putting boxes like South Asian/Mideastern more and more, which is more specific so I check it. </p>
<p>African-American is just an American with ancestors in Africa, regardless of skin color…it’s not like you have to be descended from slaves. For example, Obama considers himself african-american, and I think his father was a kenyan immigrant. But this is way OT - on the common app you can click ‘African’ and a list will drop down from which you can be specific and put ‘egypt’. or you can click other and then pick egypt.</p>
<p>your point is that egypt is in africa? thanks, i knew that. people joke about it because i would only be referred to as “african american” if you go by technical geography alone and ignore the social meaning. it seems you’re not getting my point–that i don’t feel like taking advantage of the “downside of affirmative action.” it’s a personal decision, if others want to do it, that’s up to them. and for your records, there is a tiny piece of egypt technically located on the asian continent, where my father is from. so i guess that makes me “asian american” according to your standards.</p>
<p>No need to get snarky, and yes I understood your point. You’re Asian American? Okay. As I said before I could care less what you choose, but you were saying that all African Americans are assumed to be black and I was simply disagreeing.</p>
<p>If you define African American to be black, then all black American citizens are African American, but then what if you’re Cuban? Yes there is a skin color associated with some terms, but college admissions (especially NYU) knows that this is not 100% of the case which is my only point. Again - I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU CHOOSE, NO NEED TO GET SNARKY AT ME!</p>
<p>that’s clearly not what i said but you obviously are going to keep insisting on arguing with a point i didn’t make, while still missing my main point. this is a pointless conversation.</p>
<p>“that’s clearly not what i said and this is a pointless conversation.”</p>
<p>lol Okay.</p>
<p>I was a little surprised to find out that mideasterners are considered ‘white’. I think someone pointed out earlier that society generally views arabs as white but that’s not true - most people consider white to be caucasians only, but I guess the U.S census bureau doesn’t. </p>
<p>It’s not about what ethnic groups are discriminated against - Arabs and Asians have also faced discrimination, it’s about being an underrepresented minority in the workforce, which we are not.</p>
<p>yeah sorry i have better things to do than argue all day online with someone i never met.</p>
<p>actually i said society considers ME white. i.e. i’ve been treated as if i’m a white person my whole life. it is a valid point though, perceptions have definitely changed after 9/11.</p>
<p>Apparently you don’t.</p>
<p>Just to throw in a little monkeywrench, but I never know what to check, I’m middle eastern, european, native american and african american. What do I check?</p>
<p>In case some of you did not read this…</p>
<p>“The term White refers to people having
origins in any of the original peoples of
Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa” - Census Bureau</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-4.pdf[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-4.pdf</a></p>
<p>Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria are all considered to be in North Africa…The reason they are considered white is because they are Berber/Arab/European and most of them are not black…so they are not African according to the census bureau…so if you’re Egyptian and you’re as white as someone from Sweden…you’re considered white, not African-American</p>
<p>milkandsugar: Whatever you want; but most people I know would put Native American since it’s so underrepresented. :)</p>
<p>I am all those things but socially and culturally I identify as an African american.</p>
<p>i’m sure it was read bicyclekick, but some people have an amazing ability to filter out and ignore information that doesn’t conform to their preexisting opinions.</p>
<p>And contradict themselves when they said they don’t want to argue about things all day online. Interesting isn’t it?</p>
<p>PS - Maybe I read the document wrong but it says that a huge some of people identified themselves as white -and- some other race. Like white and ‘black or african american’, which covers my point that not all african americans are black. And yes there are white African Americans and I never said otherwise.</p>
<p>what i meant is i’m not going to waste time explaining something to you that you can’t seem to wrap your head around.</p>