Race(I am Asian): Can I say White too even though it is only a small percentage?

Applying to College
41

As much as this country wants to eliminate racism, the system is disallowing it with the continuance of requiring those damn checkboxes. College entrance, job applications, loan applications, medical history, DMV, etc. There are so many mixed children nowadays, nobody is really pure anything anymore. I have grand nieces who are 1/4 white (Norwegian), 1/4 Chinese, 1/4 Hispanic, 1/4 Native American. One looks Hispanic, one looks Asian. Their mom, my niece, looks white so when she is out with her kids people give her strange looks! But that is the reality of typical American now, so why should the system still require the checkboxes?

42

A lot of misinfo here.

Claiming Native American depends on the rules of the specific tribes. One needs to dig into that from the NA perspective. Not all colleges require an enrollment id. (Some certification or a “certificate” is about govt benefits, not identity. Different.)

I highly doubt a law school will expect 1/4 today.

I also don’t think many here have much familiarity with the Burghers or their sense of identity.

OP is free to list Asian and white, explain that’s Sri Lankan and white/Dutch/Belgian. Burgher. Adcoms will get it.

And Sri Lankan isn’t really ORM. It’s a bit less simple than calling OP Asian.
@bluedevil8130

43

Thanks to everyone for their input. Although I am most likely going to only say Asian, I am going to check with my guidance counselor too.

44

“Race” is a totally artificial construct first developed in the 1600’s and has no actual anthropological and/or scientific significance. IMO therefore, always check “other” or “Choose Not To Respond”. Modern dna/anthropological evidence clearly points to our species originating in Africa, if that’s any help. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_race_concepts

45

@bluedevil8130 Just be yourself. And if you want, don’t check any boxes at all.

46

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