<p>Can a white applicant with African heritage select "African-American" in the racial profile section of the Common App? </p>
<p>I do not intend to hoodwink the admission committees, nor do I wish to misrepresent my race, but with parents who were raised in Africa, I identify more with the "African-American" option than I do with the "European" one. Would it be best to select "Other," or leave the question unanswered...?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Explain what you mean by “Parents who were raised in Africa.”</p>
<p>If you are a white person, you should not put African-American, even if you were born in Africa yourself. The Common Application does not list “European” as an option. It lists “White (including Middle Eastern).” You can leave the question unanswered if you prefer–it is optional. But if anything in your application leads the schools to think that you are black when you are actually white, it will eventually hurt you.</p>
<p>@miss_murd3r: Many generations of my family were born and raised in Africa and, although we are Caucasian, it seems that any European roots are quite distant. My parents were the first of their families to immigrate to the United States and are now naturalized citizens, but we do still have relatives abroad. Many members of the family are fluent in one or more African dialects. </p>
<p>I am not comfortable providing any less-vague details.</p>
<p>@Hunt: “Black/African-American,” then, is actually only asking for a physical description…? I do not doubt your honesty, but am merely curious as to what source backs up that belief. Where does it say that the motive of the race question is to determine skin color rather than to determine nationality?</p>
<p>Technically, an African American is someone with African roots, born in America. The OP can put that he/she is African American even if they are white. What would you consider someone from South Africa? It’s all about the culture. </p>
<p>This is a tricky question. You should ask your college counselor/guidance counselor. </p>
<p>I do know of one situation where this has happened to a person, and they put African American. Of course, it can be misleading, so I agree with Hunt in those respects.</p>
<p>Race is a tricky subject, as race can be viewed as an “advantage” when applying to colleges.</p>
<p>Addition: Can you provide where in Africa specifically your roots are from?</p>
<p>Let me make this clear: you ABSOLUTELY should not put that you are African American if you are white. The Common App designation is “Black or African American.” Heck, my own “European roots” are quite distant, but I know that I can’t mark “Native American” on an application. This is not a tricky question–it is crystal clear.</p>
<p>Have you ever noticed that white people who were raised in Asia never ask if they should put that they are Asians?</p>
<p>I get what you are saying Hunt. Physical descriptions are misleading though. Someone can be WHITE and still be African American - my best friend is a light skinned African American. He marked down that he was Black/African American and wrote his common app essay about how he got flack for being a light skinned black person. You can’t really tell the OP not to put one thing; it’s quite common these days to have a “white black person.” </p>
<p>The OP really needs to elaborate more in order to get a concrete answer… Do you have any “African” blood in you, or are your relatives all “white” - “white” as in European?</p>
<p>Here’s the Census Bureau’s definition: “Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.”</p>
<p>If the OP has Black African ancestry, then maybe he can claim to be African American. But this does not seem to be the case from his post. White people born in Africa are not “African Americans.”</p>
<p>Agreed. But that is what he’s not really clarifying. If his mom married an African person WHILE she was living in Africa (meaning, if he has any “African blood” in him" he would qualify as African American.</p>
<p>I agree with that…but he said he was Caucasian. There are lots of white people in Africa, in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere. They are Africans in a very real sense. But they are not “African Americans” in the context of how that term is used in the United States.</p>
<p>How important is your African heritage in defining who you are? Is the only difference between you and another person from Africa the color of your skin?</p>
<p>@Hunt: Please try to be respectful of the other posters. I started this thread with a question; it was not meant to be taken as a personal affront.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for your input! I was, in fact, referring to South African heritage (although I wonder how a light-skinned Egyptian would define himself?). </p>
<p>The white-person-raised-in-Asia analogy was somewhat illuminating, although I do think that African history is different enough from Asian history to warrant different definitions of nationality. </p>
<p>@miss_murd3r: I think I will approach my guidance counselor on the subject (although that interaction is likely to be fruitless haha), and I might also email an admission office for help.</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone! If you come across more information on this subject in the future, please feel free to post it here.</p>
<p>A light skinned egyptian would report himself as Caucasian. Northern Africans are categorized as caucasians according to federal definition.</p>
<p>This question has been asked dozens of times and the clear answer is that you are not African American by US Census definitions.</p>
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<p>Hunt seemed perfectly respectful to me.</p>
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I agree. Hunt is just being very clear, very blunt, on whether the OP is African or not.</p>
<p>If you are Caucasiasn= White. It doesn’t matter if your parents lived in Asia, Africa, or Antartica, you are still white</p>
<p>I’m going to also have to back up with Hunt on this one. I’m sure the OP’s concerns are legitimate, but it is also clear that this question is only coming up because of affirmative action. OP, take Hunt’s advice, mark what you truly know you are on the App, and hopefully you will get in to your dream school on your own merits.</p>
<p>If you are a white South African, I think you may find people to be particularly unsympathetic to a suggestion that you are “African American.” I strongly advise you not to ask your guidance counselor about it, and particularly not any of your schools. I’m sorry if this seems disrespectful, but you will seem clueless at best, and at worst, as attempting to manipulate the system to your benefit.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was white but was born in South Africa. I believe she did put African American on her apps. </p>
<p>Best bet: talk to your guidance counselor, as many have said before me.</p>
<p>Your guidance counselor has to write a recommendation for you. This suggests, to me at least, that you should avoid asking your counselor stupid questions, or questions that put you in a bad light. If you’d like to write an essay about how your background has affected your worldview, that’s perfectly fine.</p>
<p>But to make this even clearer: you are descended from white South Africans. To many Americans, this will mean that you are descended from people who benefited from apartheid. For you to seek to obtain the benefits of being an African American–that is, the benefits of belonging to a group that was discriminated against and enslaved based on race–would be seen as extremely cynical and obnoxious. You may not be old enough to really understand this, but some of the admissions people at colleges will feel this way. Don’t take the chance.</p>