<p>I have read the posts on another thread (it was a fierce debate) about how Egyptians and other North Africans are supposed to check white on their applications. No offense to whites, but this absurd. I love my country, but it is true that we DO face discrimination in all walks of life and we are NOT treated like whites in society, yet we are expected to mark this down on our application. Rediculous. My grandfather's family is nubian, which makes me 1/4 black. So I guess I can put African, but for other Egyptians they should atleast be able to mark other. North Africans face the same socio-economic problems as blacks in Africa and in America, and all in all, we consider ourselfs African because that is our home continent, just as Indians are considered Asian and etc. I'd like to hear other's thoughts.</p>
<p>Affirmative action does not always help those who are meant to helped by it and often helps those who shouldn't be. That's how things are.</p>
<p>My daughter is Arab-American and will be writing about that identity in her essay. It's a big part of who she is.</p>
<p>I encourage you to do the same!</p>
<p>I'm Russian, but we've always had a hard time finding where we are since the Western World doesn't count as as Western, and we're not really Asian lol.
So I just ticked white to make them happy, and also did other - Slavic.</p>
<p>Well, i have another essay topic in mind which deals with our identity but thats a good topic too. which box will she be checking?</p>
<p>I think the boxes are mainly meant to find African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. Lots of people not strictly in those categories fall through the cracks, even if they are not white. Actually, there are tons of white people who face discrimination too (Jews, Roma, Catholics in some areas, even kids who just live in bad neighborhoods) and don't get any breaks. So agreed, probably not the best system.</p>
<p>My d is debating between "White" and "other."</p>
<p>the question is totally optional so you always have to option of not checking anything if you feel that you do not fit in to any of the categories.</p>
<p>I totally agree with OP. I'm 1/2 Egyptian, 1/8 black but no AA for me since I'm international :(</p>
<p>Don't worry, in 50 years, the U.S. willrealize who cruel it was to the middle east and create a sort of AA to make up for it. :)</p>
<p>lol my grandchildren will go to Harvard then :P</p>
<p>^ That is the way to think about it!</p>
<p>And my grandchildren will get into Harvard by their own merits, not their race. How novel!</p>
<p>^ And not to mention borrrrrrrring. URM is the best, most exciting way to get into Ivys nowadays.</p>
<p>^ of course, what's the fun in being accepted on merit alone...</p>
<p>but I agree with you...Egyptians aren't whites--by any means</p>
<p>Middle Easterners are considered white when classified! Egypt is a Middle Eastern country, even though it lies on the African continent.</p>
<p>^i’m middle eastern, but i plan on putting ‘other’. i don’t really consider myself ‘white’.</p>
<p>"Don’t worry, in 50 years, the U.S. willrealize who cruel it was to the middle east and create a sort of AA to make up for it. "</p>
<p>…can this happen in the next several months? that would be awesome :P</p>
<p>Many of the Mediterranean peoples are of mixed African and European ancestry.</p>
<p>That does not help an Italian American or Greek American get into Harvard.</p>
<p>How about an Egyptian who is a Coptic Christian? How about Egyptian from Nubian ancestry (referred to by previous poster)? How about an Egyptian from the old Jewish community? In the bad old days some argued for a “Semitic” characterization, which would, ironically, include both native jews and arabs.</p>
<p>I’m Egyptian. I put Egyptian-Middleeasterner. I do not consider Egypt an Arab country tho. I believe you define your country based on its history. Egypt does not have by any means an Arab history.</p>