Anonymous wrote:There should just be a box for Multiracial or Two or more races.

There is. The Common App asks

please indicate how you identify yourself. (Select one or more)

American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Black or African American
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
White

And then the app goes on to ask further about anything you check.

These are federal categories. (The glaring omission is Mestizo, which the reason most Hispanics check White for race after having checked Hispanic for the ethnicity question.)

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Anonymous wrote:I know a white guy who was fourth or fifth generation from South Africa (Boer). When he filled out the application he clicked ‘African American’ not really understanding it was a racial identification instead of a nationality (so he claimed).

When the schools found out they were furious and threatened to put fraud alert on his records to all schools but they eventually sorted something out.

He is African American.

No he isn't. African American = descendants of Africans brought to the US as slaves.

Exactly! That example the pp mentioned is fraud. The reason slave descendants are African American is that almost all cannot identity with a pinpointed African country. Newer immigrants from Africa can check Black but they would be labeled Somali-American, Nigerian American or in the case of the fraudster South African American.

It’s not quite this cut and dry. I’m black biracial, born here to immigrant parents. I grew up in a black neighborhood, went to an HBCU, etc. I identify as black/AA with ancestry from my parents’ home countries. I know plenty of folks with similar situations—born here or moved here as kids, but not descendants of slaves (at least not slaves in the US) who also identify as AA.

Identity is complicated and can also change over time (e.g., identifying more with one experience/part of your ancestry, but growing to identify with another part later on—I know black/white biracial people who’ve had this experience).

It really is cut and dry. Most black immigrants showed up AFTER the civil rights movement. How are you black/AA but have a whole non-black/AA parent? That makes no sense. All groups are allowed to determine who is and isn't part of their group. Funny how people who aren't AA are always telling them who is and isn't one. White people would never consider someone who is half white to be white, neither would Asians. But for some reason AAs have to take everyone. That would never fly with any other group. If your parents are from another country, you are NOT AA. This isn't difficult People just want to claim it when it's convenient.

Nope, it’s not cut and dry. My parents have been in the US since the sixties, and I grew up entirely within an AA cultural context. How I identify has never been questioned by anyone. Tons of other kids with West Indian or African heritage who were born here/moved here early in life and identify partly or wholly as AA, especially in cities like Miami, NYC, Boston.

There should just be a box for Multiracial or Two or more races.

OP, unless I missed it, you never say what type of school your daughter would like to apply to. You say you are used to just grades being the deciding factor for college admittance. By and large, most of the schools here are the same, especially the state schools. Maybe you should talk to her GC about which schools are target schools for her. This all may be a moot point. Don't listen to "everyone" telling you she needs all of these boxes checked to "game" the system. She will be able to get into most colleges in the U.S. without all that.

If she is applying to an elite school where the "extras" might come into play, the issue you are inquiring about will only be one of the many, many other things they look at in determining whether your child would be a good fit for their school.

You are wayyyy over-thinking all this.

Anonymous wrote:Apart from this question OP, ‘We’ are not applying to college. You need to step back and let her manage this process on her own.

Op here - Oh this old chestnut. “We” absolutely are applying in a way “we”would not be where I come from. Why are the parents hauled into school practically every week plus for updates on the process by the college counsellors, meetings with college counsellors, asked to write an essay about our child, encouraged to go as family to collage fairs, participate in case studies of previous applicants’ applications in order to understand what college admissions officers are looking for, advised to drive around the country endlessly looking at schools, revisiting schools, and the list goes on. Trust me, I am as flummoxed by how much “we” are applying and not just our kids. Give me a break with that tired condescending claptrap.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why she can’t just be honest and check both black and white. That is the truth. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other - it is what it is.

A lot of people have a problem with a system that discriminates against students because of their race, and gives extra points to AA students. If a parent of a bi-racial kid wants to check AA because it gives them an advantage, go for it. The social experiment they are conducting is wrong, so no need to fully comply.

I don’t understand why she can’t just be honest and check both black and white. That is the truth. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other - it is what it is.

OP, you are fine to encourage your daughter to identify as black. Don't listen to these jerks on DCUM. There are many on here who are POC who feel you are encroaching on their territory, and then others who feel like they don't have a hook and neither should you. I posted earlier about how my son identified as Hispanic even though he is only 1/4. It is fine...really. The schools don't care as long as you are not defrauding them, which you are not. They created this situation with the ridiculous affirmative action, so they have to deal with people taking advantage of these loopholes. Until they fix it, people like us will continue to "game the system" to their advantage. It certainly turned out quite well for my DS.

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Anonymous wrote:Brazillians are not Hispanic and hate it when you make that mistake.

Just a heads up.

True, but for what it's worth, the National Hispanic Recognition Program counts Brazil as conferring Hispanic ethnicity. (https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scholarships-and-recognition/national-hispanic-recognition-program)

Oh Lordy.

Americans have truly gone crazy.

Apart from this question OP, ‘We’ are not applying to college. You need to step back and let her manage this process on her own.