This article was thought-provoking for me, for although I'm aware of the complications that can be associated with "Race" categories on applications or Standardized Test answer sheets, as an almost purely German male, I've never had much trouble finding the "Caucasian/White" box. The issue of mix-raced students having to make uncomfortable compromises about the notation of their race, simply because the correct boxes do not exist is becoming less of an issue. More and more, colleges are including more boxes and categories on applications to better enable applying students to paint the picture of their own story and heritage. However, now the growing problem is the way in which students try to manipulate the system to try to make themselves for eligible to be beneficiaries of affirmative action (ex. the young woman, Natasha Scott said: "'I just realized that my race is something I have to think about,' she wrote, describing herself as having an Asian mother and a black father. 'It pains me to say this, but putting down black might help my admissions chances and putting down Asian might hurt it.'")
I don't really have much experience with this. As I said before, my race, at least on forms like these, is very clear to me. The only time I've felt a bit of this kind of racial confusion was when for the entirety of this year, the Wilbur Cross computer system filled out all the "Race" sections of my Quarterly Scantron sheets as being African American. That was weird and though endlessly hilarious, still leaves me without a sense of what the article is really talking about.
I do have more experience, though, with the measures some take to receive affirmative action or avoid it. My father, when taking the SATs in Highschool marked his race as "African American" (though he is now a supporter of certain Affirmative Action, at the time he wanted to challenge what he viewed as unfair scholarship selection practices). Thus, he was considered for a scholarship that though not explicitly for only African Americans was implicitly so.
What would you do? What race do you put down? Is my dad a total freak, or is it ok to play with the system to receive affirmative action? If you have the option to leave out your ethnicity, would you do so?
8 comments:
"Oh, she's smart because she's Chinese." "She only works hard because her Tiger Mom forces her." "She has no friends and spends 4 hours on homework a night...just because she's Asian"
It might surprise some that these ignorant ideas would actually be voiced.
Affirmative action is all right in some instances, but I'd rather have people judge me based on my character and achievements rather than my race. For this reason, I would definitely leave out my ethnicity if given the option. My performance, whatever it may be, reflects me as Lily Engbith - not as an 'Asian/Pacific Islander.'
My parents are white. Though my skin is a little darker than theirs, I live the same life as I would have had I been born to them. (I was adopted at the age of eight months.) Given this, I could be considered Caucasian. Does it really matter?
It's unfortunate that admissions officers put so much stock into prospective students' races. I think the idea of playing with the system is commendable, as long as you don't accept awards on the pretense of a lie.
PS. As Natasha Scott pointed out, it's screwed up that she (and I) will probably be at a disadvantage in the admissions process for being categorized by something that has nothing to do with her (and my) intelligence, personality, or academic achievement.
I think what matters the most is when they ask you the highest level of education your parents reached. I was talking to a friend the day of the PSATs and she asked me how long my parents went to school and i told her they both went to grad school. Neither of her parents went to college or spoke English as a first language. In result, i had a much easier time on the vocab section because i had grown up around parents who were trained to have large English vocabularies. This gave me a completely unfair advantage and this unfairness can be discovered by merely asking about parental education. So all of the turmoil surrounding the race question is for nothing since it really doesn't tell you anything about the person's advantages or disadvantages.
I agree with Esther. In the same vein, socioeconomic standing should be taken into account, since the SAT doesn't really measure much more than your familiarity with the test. Families who can afford to send their kids to private tutoring and buy expensive prep books will probably have a much greater advantage than those who have to go in blind. Additionally, the tests are expensive, and it's likely that most wealthy kids will take the test 3 or 4 times, if needed.
Of course, you can always lie.
If the College Board want to measure a person's performance on the test, they shouldn't judge you by extraneous, and maybe even irrelevant, information.
this article blog caught my attention. in my opinion i have no problem checking the african/american box even though i am mixed with various races. Although it doesn't bother me as much i feel that it is neccessary to change the rule where we have to check our race. Why does our culture, race, or skin color matter in anything? If im not mistaken we are a country of all equals and race shouldn't be a problem. We had our time of racism and now that the mistake has been made our country should know that what race you are doesn't define what you are capable of.
"OHH she doesn’t speak any English." That’s what a lady said because I wouldn’t talk to her when I didn’t even know her. That’s what people assume when i don’t talk to them. To me i can’t believe how ignorant people can be. What does race have to do with anything? Especially how smart a person is or what benefits they should get. People need to change things and realize that race does not matter at all and that what matters most is who the person is. But things seem to never change as the years continue to go by.
Warning: This is more about college admittance in general than SAT forms.
I'm completely in favor of blind admissions, disregarding gender, race, or financial situations. By financial situations, I don't mean that I don't believe in financial aid, but that college admissions boards shouldn't be obligated to fill out quotas every day, being admitted by virtue of their total income instead of being admitted and then being given financial support, or not. This is where admissions processes start becoming ridiculous, with applications being tossed aside because the limit for bass-players has already been reached, and this applicant wasn't a volleyball captain. The more to discourage this kind of tracked admittance, the better. Another scary question on college-bound forms is if, as an 18-year-old male, you have already been registered for the draft, and if not, FAFSA will happily oblige.
I agree with Lilly. Stereotypes in the education field are rampant. For example, I'm a Hispanic in high school not expected to graduate, and if I do, not expected to graduate with any kind of honors. I am also thought of being too simple-minded and ignorant to even be taking an AP class. I, for one, want to be judged based on my skills and intelligence not my race. I am proud to check the Hispanic box, but am aware that although we are a country known as a "melting pot", discrimination still exists. And that, is sad.
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