<p>I am officially registered as multiracial. My father is Caucasian and my mother is a Chinese immigrant.</p>
<p>Should I be covered under Affirmative Action? I have been told that multiracial people are given the letter "M" when transcripts are sent out. My guidance counselor said this is effectively a loop hole in the system because when college admission counselors see "M" they will automatically assure White/Black or White/Hispanic. They will never think that I am White/Asian.</p>
<p>My friends (who are white) say this is unfair because I shouldn't gain an advantage over them when Affirmative Action was meant for minorities that are disadvantaged e.g. African Americans, Hispanics...etc. I feel that I deserve Affirmative Action because I am a minority and I am upset that my friends think I'm cheating the system.</p>
<p>I think when you list multiracial, you also list the race. For your case it would be Caucasian/Asian. Just tell the truth, I'm not sure what advantage you would have. But at least from the culture point of view, you have been in both cultures.</p>
<p>There a many caucasian/asian kids. IF you get categorized under M, you won't get any advantage -- seeing as neither of your ethnic groups are categorized under URMs. Tell your friends to back off and relax.</p>
<p>(my kids are half Chinese/half Italian -- they love garlic and noodles)</p>
<p>Is it true that if you put multiracial, you are considered either white/black or white/hispanic? That doesn't make sense to me. I put multiracial on all my apps, but I guess I should specify asian/hispanic. </p>
<p>But what if the school doesn't allow you to elaborate?</p>
<p>Spiffystars and OP - How can one believe a designation of 'multiracial', in any way, ** default ** to white/black or white/Hispanic? For all they know, you could be 1/2 Tongan, 1/4 Cherokee and 1/4 Hmong! </p>
<p>On almost all of my applications (the minority had a confusing series of race/ethnic bubbles), there was an "other" selection with a nice long blank after it. I happily filled out that blank with a complete sentence.</p>
<p>Be advised, OP, that "Affirmative Action" is not a uniform set of policies held by colleges, so no, you can't be covered by it. Also, these policies usually extend to people who are of ** disadvantaged ** racial or ethnic groups, as well as women, people with disabilities, and war veterans. They take into account your social status, your parents' education, your education, and even where you live (which for most people determines their education). If you are not disadvantaged in those regards, then no, I don't think you have a case for needing this kind of advantage.</p>
<p>Adding to my previous statement, I'm a multiracial person, and I don't even believe I benefited significantly from affirmative action. In my case I came from a family of medical professionals, educated at a private boarding school, parents are both alumni of the school I currently attend, and it was apparent that I had privileges that are not available to a working class family. Why should I deserve preferential treatment? Maybe as a part of the growing diversity movement among all educational institutions, I was considered an asset in that regard, but this is surely not even close to being on the level of affirmative action. </p>
<p>Your guidance counselor, OP, is obviously spreading some gross misinformation, and someone should stop him/her a.s.a.p. That person is only increasing this massive misunderstanding.</p>
<p>tokyorevelation - I asked the question in response to what the original poster had said.</p>
<p>Some of the applications I have encountered did not provide a blank. I didn't really feel comfortable saying "Other" or even just "Asian" or "Hispanic" because none of those describe me in the best way possible. I'm half Dominican, so even putting down "Hispanic" seems a little off to me. I've only experienced this in one application so far (Duke) but I suppose I've fixed the problem by giving my parents' "country of birth" in the "Parents" section.</p>
<p>PS - I understand though, what you mean about students who are economically advantaged attempting to gain some sort of advantage by relying on AA, but that's certainly not me. I just feel like my ethnicity is unique and has played a huge role in who I am today and how I view the world...sounds cliche, but it's true. I've got a dad who cooks monfogo and a mom who makes sure that there is a pot full of white rice warming at all times. It makes for some really funny stories :]</p>
<p>Hmm, I'm not sure..I think mofongo is just plain plantains with butter/salt/ maybe some garlic, but monfongo has meat in it and the plantains may be mashed. I should ask my dad... I've only had the plain kind though and it is really delicious...a perfect blend of sweet and salty..</p>
<p>I think it might just be a spelling issue...you wrote monfogo the first time...Anyway, is your dad Dominican hispanic? I think THAT's URM, and in New York, "Chino-Cubano" was a pretty common mix.</p>
<p>I plan on writing a novel on their lives and how they met, because I think it's hilarious and yet very touching...their lives were sooo different in their respective countries before they met that it's almost much too comical NOT to write about!! Hopefully they will forgive me ;]</p>
<p>I took out the recipe with an edit; here it is</p>
<p>"Mofongo, not to be confused with mondongo, is a spicy dish, easy to prepare and that has great following among Dominicans. There are many restaurants throughout the island that serve the many varieties of this dish. We are presenting here the traditional recipe.</p>
<p>Time: 90 Mins
Difficulty: Advanced
Serve: 6 people</p>
<p>Before starting to cook: Peel the plantains and cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces.</p>
<p>Ingredients:
1 lb of pork cracklings
1 cup of oil
2 1/2 teaspoons of salt
4 unripe plantains
4 cups of prepared beef stock
2 tablespoons of mashed garlic</p>
<p>^^ Thats funny, my parents met under unusual, and in my opinion, comical circumstances at college, and it embarrasses my father so much to talk about those circumstances that I didn't get the complete story until...well...six months ago...under intense social pressure. My father is an Israeli born to Czech parents, and my mother's family is so mixed up I don't even know where to begin: to put it simply there are Blacks, Catawba Indians and possibly Seminoles in there among many others.</p>
<p>Haha, that does sound very interesting. Now that I think about it, I might write about them for my college essay..</p>
<p>But yeah, my parents didn't even know the other's language at first and had to use a primitive form of sign language to communicate. They still kinda do, LOL.</p>
<p>What do you mean "officially registered"? There isn't any official register of people's ethnic designation in the United States, and I hope there never is, so that this country doesn't go the bloody way of Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia, or Rwanda. </p>
<p>If you are talking about college applications, it is ENTIRELY optional to list any kind of ethnic self-designation. You can leave that question blank. About 15 percent of the enrolled class at Harvard is listed as "unknown" in Harvard's counts of student ethnicities. </p>
<p>(Harvard is required to count by federal law, but students are NOT required to self-report.) If you are not talking about your college application, but about something else, what are you talking about?</p>
