<p>If your black Egyptian, then yes. But usually, non-black Egyptians check "other" or "middle eastern".</p>
<p>African-American refers to the majority of african americans in this country whose ancestry is from subsaharan africa. You should be considered Egyptian, not african america. Egyptians are middle eastern, not "Black"</p>
<p>Not true, there is there are still black Egyptians (i.e. descendants the Nubians). My cousins are part black Egyptian.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why the HECK dont they list races such as 'White, Black, Brown, Yellow', oh yes, almost forgot, people are too sensitive and "its not nice" .
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I figure I will call people whatever they want to be called and not call them whatever they don't want to be called. That's just common courtesy.</p>
<p>As for people being "too sensitive," that's a judgment on your part that implies you think you're superior to them because, apparently, you are not "too sensitive."</p>
<p>notredamebrother:</p>
<p>I've been to Egypt, and you are correct. Nubian descent would imply being eligible for African-American designation, in my book.</p>
<p>And then there's the large number of Sudanese taking refuge in Egypt.</p>
<p>Seriously? Why?????</p>
<p>ndb:</p>
<p>Yeah, but they're Sudanese (Nubian).</p>
<p>Funny thing about Egypt. I met a number of people there who would say, "I'm not Arab. I'm Egyptian." Undoubtedly, the genes of the ancient Egyptians are still there (by definition), but Egypt was submerged long ago in Arabic peoples and Arabic culture.</p>
<p>Oh, for a time machine!</p>
<p>fhimas88888888, The Darfur genocide is causing a flow of Sudanese into Egypt. They're often not received well.</p>
<p>I know this Algerian white guy, He is an African American. lol</p>
<p>I am Libyan, am i considered African American?</p>
<p>those egyptians who say they are not arab are either ignorant or ignoring their own culture</p>
<p>Not true Beefs. Saying that Egyptians are 100% Arab implies that Arabs went from the Peninsula, into Egypt, killed every single Egyptian, and then completely repopulated the landmass.
This wasn't what would happen. Usually there would be a group of Arab warriors who would go to a new location, conquer the local people, acculturate them with Islam and Arabic culture, perhaps settle in proportionately small numbers, but overall there would not be a major change in the ethnic make-up of the place. Same goes for places such as Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, ...</p>
<p>Oh, and to the OP: America is a racist country. There is no "Law" you should be worried about morally breaking, because it is the same law that created an ethically atrocious situation which now necessitates asking for peoples' race to remove the historical disadvantage that it, itself, created. In a perpetuation of American racism, the "law" puts you into categories that do not describe you well no matter what; you are African because you are from the continent of Africa. Are you a black African? Perhaps yes, perhaps no; there is too much mystery surrounding the origins of Egyptians to know, and various academic debates explore this subject. Are you Middle Eastern? By culture. So is Sudan and Uzbekistan; one would be considered Black, the other Asian.
Basically, these are incorrect racial monikers. Race as a form of stratification is oversimplified in such a pluralistic society, and has to go. For now, be pragmatic: it's your life, not the law's. Take advantage of a bad bureaucracy,
it harms no one and this is one of the rare instances when bureaucracy DOES work in your favor rather than against you. </p>
<p>Do not listen to people who tell you that this is morally wrong. Hurting people is morally wrong; making use of a badly defined, archaic law is not.</p>
<p>The same goes for Hispanics. This is not a racial category at all, because Latin American society is not nearly as racist as ours is, and there is much of what we call "miscegnation". The majority of Latin Americans would be bi- or multi-racial; either Mestizo, or native American and African, or African and white, or a combination of all three. That is because racism did not interfere with human relations there as much.
When Americans ask for a "hispanic", they most likely mean either Mestizo or Native American. (not clear which one, really). In fact there are only small populations of Native Americans left in Latin America.
By the US definition, a family of German Argentinians who left after WWII to escape crimes against humanity charges have the same racial make-up as a part black, part native American, part Jewish family (which is the case with one of my family branches) or as a Native American.</p>
<p>Obviously, this designation needs to be more sensitive to the spectrum of different heritages and cultures, and needs to be MUCH more well-defined. (Or...potentially...it could just go...)</p>
<p>I do not think that anyone argues that there is a true , biological barriers between different races, rather than social constructs.</p>
<p>Backfire, you have absolutely no scruples. No one is saying these things out of jealousy of someone else can check "African-American" on their college apps (which btw is usually always listed as Black/African-American, meaning in this case that the person who says he is "African-American" is also Black). </p>
<p>I am multiracial, with part of my ancestry being Black, but I said I was "Other" and specified on my applications. To those here who would misrepresent themselves on college applications: are you that desperate? Do you really think Black and other URM applicants to top schools are automatic shoo-ins? It just goes to show how shallow and ignorant of the college application process some people are on CC.</p>
<p>No one is saying these things out of jealousy huh? I doubt that everyone would resist the temptation of putting black, if they could get away with it. Too many people, especially on College Confidential, have become absorbed by the admissions process. For one reason or another, there entire lives or depending on this (in their minds.) Sure its not everything, but tell that those ultra competitive asians who resent their ethnicity, which i have read about in countless threads here.
But, who do we blame for this misunderstanding? Surely, the author is not trying to get away with anything. He merely asked a question about his ethnicity and everyone is trying to force him not to put African-American. We have no doubt that he is african and american but, the current interpretations of these ethnicities have become muddled in college admissions. This brings about the point of afirmitive action, but I will not discuss that.
And, on your point of "Do you really think Black and other URM applicants to top schools are automatic shoo-ins?" you are making an absurd claim once again. Noone said they were automatic shoo-ins, but can anyone deny the edge one gets from checking the African-American box. You chances are nearly doubled or tripled.
If you want to blame anyone blame the colleges for not requiring photos and having the affirmitive action process.
The only person who can solve this problem is the colleges themselves.</p>
<p>orangetwee,</p>
<p>I agree with much of what you say and I think you bring up some excellent points. </p>
<p>It's interesting to note how "Muslim" is usually regarded as a race, which only goes to show that race, in the social and political sense, has absolutely no basis in science. Instead, "race" is ultimately a form of limitation and marginalization imposed on groups that are deemed as incompatible threats to the dominant group.</p>
<p>Muslim is usually regarded as a race? Wow. You'd have to be pretty darned ignorant to think that a religion is a race, unless (like Judaism) that religion is grounded in a convenant with descendants of a patriarch included in that covenant automatically.</p>
<p>im sorry but in the modern world egyptians are considered as arab as any other middle eastern so regardless of what may have happened 1500 years ago, egyptians are arab.</p>