<p>My father is White but he is a fully blooded South African (Jewish). Should I check the black or African American catagory? Is it cheating the system if I do?
My mom is white too</p>
<p>Sorry dude 
if you don’t look the part it doesnt matter</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html?highlight=Race+FAQ+south+African[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html?highlight=Race+FAQ+south+African</a></p>
<p>From post #9, and MANY like it…</p>
<p>"FAQ section on “Race”: Part 1, Persons from Africa
Quote:
I’m white but my ancestors are from South Africa. Can I put down that I am African American?
The answer to this question is always the same, by the United States federal definitions.</p>
<p>Black or African American persons, percent, 2000</p>
<p>"White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as ‘White’ or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.</p>
<p>“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>Here’s a simple rule of thumb: if no one in South Africa would have called you “black” or “coloured,” especially during the days of apartheid,</p>
<p>Apartheid – Africana</p>
<p>you have no basis in America for calling yourself “African American,” the official synonym of which is “black.” A person who checks “Black or African American” is asserting that he or she has “origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.” Not all people who live on the continent of Africa have origins in a black racial group, and that is the official definition–you are only “African American” if you are black. If you call yourself white, and your friends do too, it doesn’t matter where your parents were born, or what countries they lived in. You also have the choice of not indicating any ethnicity or race at all. What a college does with what it sees on your form varies from college to college."</p>
<p>^ Wow thank you. I was debating with my government teacher over this the other day.</p>
<p>I think post # 9 on this thread may have links to other useful threads.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/african-american-students/719965-am-i-african-american-everyone-has-different-opinion.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/african-american-students/719965-am-i-african-american-everyone-has-different-opinion.html</a></p>
<p>Shrinkrap…</p>
<p>That’s good info.</p>
<p>There was a student who was German but was born in Brazil (where some Germans immigrated after WWII), but he was applying to colleges as Latino.</p>
<p>If you call yourself white, and your friends do too, it doesn’t matter where your parents were born, or what countries they lived in.</p>
<p>I agree. But, I don’t see colleges “kicking kids out” for indicating that they’re a URM (to help gain admissions) when they aren’t a URM.</p>
<p>There have been several threads onthis topic. Many have said that if you self identify as white/caucasian, and that is what you see/say and others see/say of you, then check that box and no other on the application</p>
<p>"But, I don’t see colleges “kicking kids out” for indicating that they’re a URM (to help gain admissions) when they aren’t a URM. "</p>
<p>mom: a while back, an admissions officer from a fairly selective school had a series of posts regarding the gaming of the URM thing. She was very cold to the idea of how students who have never listed their hispanic or AA ethnicity suddenly discover this aspect of themselves come application time. Her constant word was “disingenuous”. She cited one girl who said she was Latino but neither of her older two brothers (who had been accepted at the same college) checked it. Also about Afrikaans people. </p>
<p>It happens every year.</p>