Am I an underrepresented minority?

[Regal_Muse]

LMAO....

Gender and race issues are two completely different battles.

I called you a broad for referring to my post as ignorant. In my eyes (and the eyes of others apparently) that was a personal attack. When another female directs a negative comment towards me, she becomes just another broad.


Ultimately the original poster is going to put on her application what she wants. If she makes the wrong move, she will get kicked out of law school and/or not be allowed to take the bar.

If she strongly identifies as being African American, so be it. She's not going to affect my admissions into law school. 

[ElizaB]

Getting back to the original question....

I think you should mark other and write in Berber if they give a blank....just to be on the safe side.  If you did mark African American, I would be sure to clarify somewhere your situation.  I doubt that labeling yourself as African American would come back to bite you in the ass later and I don't think there is anything ethically wrong with it.  However, do you really want to worry about it for the next 3 1/2 years of your life?

[TLFKARG]

Getting back to the original question....

I think you should mark other and write in Berber if they give a blank....just to be on the safe side.  If you did mark African American, I would be sure to clarify somewhere your situation.  I doubt that labeling yourself as African American would come back to bite you in the ass later and I don't think there is anything ethically wrong with it.  However, do you really want to worry about it for the next 3 1/2 years of your life?

Actually, there IS something ethically wrong with it.  It's called misrepresentation and the ABA is known to investigate such cases. 

[ElizaB]

I revise my advise.  I asked someone who would know about this and they said that the question is essentially asking: "Where are your ancestors from?"  Even though your parents are from Africa, their ancestors were probably originally from Europe and you would be considered Caucasian and not African American.

[UMHBmom]

I'll say it one more time, since it seems that many of you still haven't got the point: on every application I've seen, the box says "African-America/Black."  The two terms, for the purposes of the application, are synonyms, so if you are not phenotypically black (although your ancestors may very well be from Africa), you should not check the box.  It's as simple as that.

Incorrect. For purposes of racial designation, they also group together "Asian/Pacific Islander". NOT synonymous, unless your geography is even worse than mine (and I once thought Israel was a small island off the coast of South America).

[MidtownZackATL]

If Teresa Heinz-Kerry is an African-American, then you certainly are!

[->Soon]

why cant off the wall freaky people be minorities? 

[RUMike]

I think you should put it. AA is an incredibly flawed system. Plenty of people who fit the classical definition of African-American but who are wealthy and priviledged will check it. Plenty of poor white people will have no box. And until we end institutional racism and replace it with aiding anyone with true socioeconomic disadvantage, the system will be abused.

As far as I'm concerned, Arabs in the US get a lot of crap shoved their way, especially post 9/11. They deserve a leg up.

[pikey]

No (s)he should not check it.  African American refers to people who are racially African (ie Black).  You are not African American if you are a white person who grew up in South Africa.  You are not African American if you are an Indian person who grew up in Kenya.  In order to check that box, you must be Black.

As for leg ups for Arabs, the OP's post stated that (s)he looked white.  Obviously the OP isn't getting crap for being Arab if people think that (s)he is Western European.  Nice try.

[->Soon]

No (s)he should not check it.  African American refers to people who are racially African (ie Black).  You are not African American if you are a white person who grew up in South Africa.  You are not African American if you are an Indian person who grew up in Kenya.  In order to check that box, you must be Black.

As for leg ups for Arabs, the OP's post stated that (s)he looked white.  Obviously the OP isn't getting crap for being Arab if people think that (s)he is Western European.  Nice try.

so, can you check it if your black and grew up in the suburbs of london?