Mixed Ethnicity, the "Other" Category

[flossy]

My mother is Filipino and my dad is Colombian.  Culturally, I identify with both.  And I feel like I'm selling myself short just picking one or the other.

I find "other" to be completely insulting, and I've heard that "Other" isn't even considered minority, underrepresented or otherwise.

For the other ethnic cocktails in here, how are you classifying yourselves?

[athenanyc]

Flossy, I am half Puerto Rican and half English.  To tell you the truth, I just check off Puerto Rican.  I don't think my "disadvantage" is a result of being Puerto Rican; I think it is a result of my family's economic status, and my English side was no better off.

[A_guy]

i recall many of my apps had a check for multi-ethnicity then provided a line to describe.  its cool u identify with both b/c i know some people that decided based on the situation.  when its an advantage to be on over the other they identify with that one more.  u could check two plus the other then ewrite in what u r.  i don't think it says to just pick one.

[cutcut]

The forms are whack. I'm half-Filipino, half-white bread. As a Filipino I usually need to check Asian/Pacific Islander. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that some of the online forms through LSACD accepted multiple checks. Once, I used the "other" to put Filipino down. Also once there was a specific space for mixed-ethnicity. I thought that was cool.

[flossy]

Cool, thanks y'all.  I graduated from college in '99, so it has been 10 years since I filled out an application.  Mixed wasn't an option back in the day.

[twelvehundred]

I am going to check mixed when I can.  My dad is Colombian also.

[musicalone8123]

There's actually some kind of debate going on about adding a "multiethnic" box to school applications, I think particularly in California. Many people don't want it because of the fact that everyone of biracial or multiethnic background will be thrown in together. In my opinion, that doesn't have to be the case, just like checking "other" doesn't have to keep you raceless. For the record, I didn't check "other"--for schools that had where you could further self-identify, such as the U of Michigan app, I did so but checked my "predominant" race. Other than that, I made sure I included diversity statements and also mentioned my multiethnic background in my main personal statement. But I think schools should have that multiethnic box with a line beside it where you can fill in whatever you want to include or the option of including an additional statement regarding your background.

[Neub]

I think the Michigan app. has a lot going for it.  I really enjoyed being able to check a particular ethnicity, and then follow up and check multi-racial as well. This kind of format helps people avoid having to 'choose' between their ethnic backgrounds.

[flossy]

I think it's interesting that the two of you mentioned Michigan.  I graduated from UofM in 99 and was one of the founding members of the Mixed Initiative student group in 1996 (for multiracial/multiethnic students). 

There are def. a lot of us around, and it makes me happy to see that a my undergrad institution is now officially recognizing 'mixed' as part of the demography, and in the application process.

[adverseeffect]

yay! a mixed-race thread!  i'm half-chinese and half-white and the michigan app really appealed to me because of its recognition of mixed-race.  i understand that there are a lot of mixed-race people in the sense that maybe someone's great-grandmother was asian or native american or something, but in my family both cultures are celebrated and identifying as such is important to me.