Checking the Native American box.

[Slim]

odd question... no.

[drsocc]

I'm in Atlanta.  My major had about 6 or 7 Cherokee kids.  I have a small major though (everyone know eachother) so it was a pretty big percentage.  I ended up in a group project with a friend of mine who is also Cherokee - she was telling me there is a pretty big organization of Cherokee that live in or around Atlanta.

Kind of a dumb question - but I figured I'd ask.

[NotSmails]

Cultural identification doesn't cut it. And unless you can write a compelling diversity statement about being Native American I don't think checking the box will help all that much.[/i]

If you were 1/32 but grew up on a reservation, sure, you could be Native American. But you, OP, are not.

The sky is blue in my world.

Et tu?

[H4CS]

A little part of me died when I read the op

[biomed engineer]

I am 1/4 Muskogee Native American, and I check the box because I ALWAYS have. When I was 6 years old taking my first standardized test, when I didn't even know what AA was, I checked NA because my grandmother and father had made me proud of my culture. Its a part of who I am. It doesn't sound like this is the case with you, please don't check it.

Me too.  I have always checked the box.  I grew up on an Indian Reservation in Arizona and learned Apache before English.  However, in regards to affirmative action, it was outlawed in Florida (my current state) in 2000 by Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida legislature.  Florida no longer has affirmative action, so checking the box won't really help me.  I am hoping to go into patent law.  I have an MS in Bioengineering from Arizona State and my undergraduate major was physics at Notre Dame.  Despite the fact that affirmative action was outlawed, minority enrollment actually increased here in Florida.  I am simply stating historical facts about the topic.  I hope I don't get flamed for it.  Many times, people get misinterpreted on internet forums, then flaming sessions follow.  All I pointed out was (1) I also check the box and (2) affirmative action was outlawed in 2000 (as a matter of fact).  I did not move here until 2002 from Colorado.

[Hank Rearden]

A little part of me died when I read the op

Well let's hope the rest of you is OK!

[Lindbergh]

If you check Native american You better be able to prove it with documentation.  I'm 1/4 cherokee on both sides of my family but I never check Native American because I'm not documented.  If you can't prove it they will probably be a little upset.

I can prove it I just never took advantage of it.  I have talk to my grandmother to get the nemes of my ancestors.  Then I have contact the Cherokee Nation to see if thier names are on the membership rolls if so then I have to petition the Feds for Blood Documents stating that I'm Native American.

You don't have to look Native American to be Native American.  You just have to be honest with yourself and not be a racist prick.

How is it racist to call yourself N.A. if you consider yourself such, and actually have N.A. blood?

[Lindbergh]

I don't think so.  either you are or you aren't.  People were murdered because of thier race.  People are murdered today because of thier race.  To some this AA thing is some sort of a game.  How much can they lie and get away with it.  They think its unfair thay can't take advantage of a system designed to soften past transgressions.  What they don't realize is that some of the people applying today have parents that were abused under an opressive system and still feel the pains of a racist society on the verge of genocide.

I'll simply note that whites were also murdered in the American west by native americans because of their race, and most people murdered today "because of their race" are also probably white.  Also not sure how genocide has cropped up anywhere around here in the 20th century.