@dsi411 I am not encouraging him to lie about his race at all. The opposite, actually… I am advising him to report his true race for college admissions on the basis that he actually is an URM (Since he is in America, he would be labeled as an African-American. His words exactly “I am half Lebanese and half Egyptian.” Last time I checked, Egypt is in Africa.
Like I said, it is an opportunity he has during college admission season. If he believes that he should be labeled as Caucasian, then it is his decision. It is not “unethical” to report your true ethnicity despite coming from a parent with ethnicity that is deemed underrepresented (in his case, half Lebanese and half Egyptian).
White is arguably inappropriate, but to check “African-American” would be either deliberately dishonest or uninformed about the nature of Egypt. It’s also explicitly against the current Census rules.
“In a combined race and ethnicity question tested during the 2010 Census Alternative Questionnaire Experiment, the white race category included several examples—among them “Egyptian” and “Lebanese”—to guide those who might check the box.” (So both of his ethnicities are explicitly identified as white.)
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/03/24/census-bureau-explores-new-middle-eastnorth-africa-ethnic-category/
Yeah I think @MomOnALaptop is right. I might just put “other” on the application and write Arab/North African because I don’t identify as either white or african american.
If you’ve never in your entire life identified as black, I really don’t see how you could think you’re black now.
If you’re not black 364 days of the year, you aren’t black the day you fill out the common app either…
@thegrant and @IBGuy101 really do not understand what being black means outside and inside of the college admissions game.