melting pot

I remember when affirmative action and my own racial identity first became important issues in my life. No doubt, affirmative action and race became constant weights on my mind as soon as I began to sort through stacks of college applications as a new student. On every application, I was forced to swear allegiance to one, and only one, racial identity. I searched through the boxes, desperately hoping to find one that might best describe my race and, of course, give me an advantage in the admissions process.

The first category to eliminate was a toss up between white and Native American. I thought to myself, genetically, I am at least 50 percent white since my father is white, but typically I am 100 percent Asian. White was one category I could side with, but I knew being "white" wasn't going to score me any points on my college application. Besides, when I looked in the mirror, I did not see the stereotypical image of a "white" person looking back at me.

I decided I appeared more Native American than white with my long dark hair, dark skin and strong cheekbones. But as I was aware that admissions boards could care less what I actually looked like, and

. . .
I was not the "white" they were looking for. And even though Johnny has probably had a very "white" experience growing up, he can legitimately mark off the Native American box. It is standardized, mass-produced, cost-efficient and marketed. Affirmative action, however, does not serve up a very satisfying salad. How dare we group all black people into the category of African American, while at the same time maintaining that we are contributing to diversity by promoting such a misnomer? The category of Asian American obliterates the incredible complexities and variations of the Asian continent, as well as negating a significant portion of the black population with Caribbean and Latin American roots. I knew in the eyes of most American, since I wasn't quite "white" and wasn't quite "red", I must be Hispanic.

Let's use a very common strategy of "white" college students to increase their chances of getting into their top-choice university. I was left with the Asian or South Pacific options. It is a policy of convenience, and the substance behind the finished product is minimal. From that day on, I finally realized what I was.

For the same reason, I had to forget about checking off Hispanic. Yet, somehow, I had the impression that the college admissions boards meant someone with slanted eyes and small bones. By denying the heritage he no doubt most closely relates to, and by accepting the heritage that universities desire, the game has produced two winners.

Common topics in this essay:
Native American, I'm Asian, Latin American, College Student, Santa Rosa, South Pacific, Asian White, Cherokee Indian, Asian American, African American, affirmative action, admissions boards, native american, college admissions boards, college admissions, asian continent, american people, action race, college application, racial identity, college applications, affirmative action race,

Approximate Word count = 995
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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