<p>I’m not meaning to be rude, or anything, and i do intend to put down simply “white”, but some of you are saying some pretty harsh things about my country and my origin (and race, if you live anywhere except America) and those are things very precious to me. I’m suprised to see such resentment on this board, as I havent experienced such sentiments elsewhere in the 7 years I’ve been here.</p>
<p>Sigh. I wasn’t implying anything about my own beliefs, or what was true about you. What I was pointing out is that, many Americans are not well educated about other countries, and do not care to be. In fact, many of them think being insular and ignorant is a virtue! I was warning you that, given the (outdated, but nevertheless prevalent) association of apartheid with South Africa, you might find it less of an advantage to be South African than you think. Please try not to take offense where none was meant. Perhaps I am wrong; I hope so.</p>
<p>College adcoms are educated, or at least I assumed so…</p>
<p>Good luck, Jason.</p>
<p>But who knows. Each adcom sees things differently.</p>
<p>
So Dutch Boer/Afrikaner? African-American is to Africa as Native American is to America. I am a citizen of the United States of America. I was born here, raised here, never left the Americas. However, I am not a Native American, in the sense of the indigenous people of these continents. Likewise, an American descended from European immigrants to Africa isn’t African-American.</p>
<p>
Probably.</p>
<p>
If you actually had someone like this personally confirm your specific case, why would you ask a bunch of anonymous young people on the internet?</p>
<p>
Yes, there is a history of white people oppressing minorities (black people, Hispanic people, Native Americans, even white ethnics). However, the Civil War began because the pro-slavery party lost an election, and some pro-slavery states decided to break away. Apartheid started because the Afrikaner Nationalist Party, running on a platform of apartheid, won in 1948. In fact, the Afrikaner majority tried for “white unity” with the English-descendants, against the native Africans. Naturally, you had nothing to do with this, but saying that white South Africans had nothing to do with it is wrong. In the end, a majority did vote for the formerly-imprisoned Nelson Mandela, so perhaps at the end of apartheid most Afrikaners were opposed to it, but I see no evidence of any of the other periods (beginning or middle).</p>
<p>
Sorry, but that doesn’t make it true. In a sense, you are an American with African origins, but only of a couple centuries, with Indo-European genetics.</p>
<p>However, you could say you’re an Afrikan-American.</p>
<p>I think it’s perfectly fine to put that you are from South Africa, and that does make you interesting. But what marysidney and I are trying to get across is that the issue of race is still quite sensitive in the United States. We do have a history of oppression of black people, which is why we have programs to help underrepresented minorities in the first place. And, it’s not that long ago that there were a lot of anti-apartheid demonstrations and boycott calls here in the US–some adcoms, at least, will be old enough to remember this. Obviously, a great deal has changed in South Africa, as it has here, but you need to understand that people’s perceptions are shaped by the history they’ve learned or experienced.</p>
<p>So how should an Assyrian like myself be able to present the unique aspects of his culture and tradition in the application if I have to put white as my ethnicity?</p>
<p>
Essays or activities, I’d assume.</p>
<p>"Also if you know yourhistory, the Apartheid ended around 1993. I was born in 93.
'</p>
<p>Are you suggesting that racial segregation ended with Apartheid? That there is no racism in South Africa since 1993?</p>