Confusions of Ethnicity

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As I filled out my information on the SAT, I came across one question that made me pause: “What is your ethnicity?” My eyes scanned back and forth between the options “Hispanic/Latino” and “White”. Due to the lack of time I was given to answer these seemingly unimportant questions, I filled in the bubble next to “Other” and continued on. My father is half Brazilian and half Italian, and my mother is fully Brazilian. Throughout the course of my life I have come to identify myself as being white due to the fact that I never had the option to say I was Brazilian.awkward phrasing I have an olive complexion and dark brown hair like most “white” kids, and people seem surprised when they find out I am Brazilian. Until a couple of years ago, I had never contemplated my ethnicity. It wasn’t till a couple years ago that I found out what prejudice was first hand. It was the first day of my freshman year when I first heard about “The Brazilian Table”. The first table on the right was the designated spot. It is mainly composed of, as you might have guessed, the Brazilian students. Students woul...

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