I have a very hard time responding to this, especially since I'm at that place in life, too.

I'm Caucasian and have merely a hint of Mongolian in me (oddly, from my mildly racist grandmother). Unlike you, I don't indentify as anything but Caucasian, since that's what I am.

I have tons of PoC friends. They all deserve scholarships, and they have so many opportunities for them. They're also all (save one) in the same financial class as I am.
Does my skin color mean I don't deserve scholarships as much as them?

I've been so frustrated searching for scholarships the past year, and I know I'm going to have just as many problems this year.
And then I look on my school district's website for scholarships, and I scroll through and say, "Oh, I can do...nope, I'm white."
Again.
And again.
And again.
The only that really got to me was the Gates Foundation scholarship. It even listed every minority in the US from Pacific Islander to Asian-American. The only ethnicity not included? Those of Europeans descent.

That's not to say these scholarships are in the wrong. I think it's fine to offer scholarships to PoC, to minorities, to whatever you wish to label it.
What I don't think is right is that there are so few options for someone like me, an intelligent Caucasian young woman who doesn't play sports.

Honestly, take advantage of the free money. It'll only help you, and if people look down on you for claiming your heritage, screw them. It's being offered and you have the ability to apply. You have the options! Go for it.

Race is a cultural construct.

You do not have to buy into any of it, you do not have to defend your right to be who and how you are.

some reading for you:
American Anthropological Association
Statement on "Race"
http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm

AAPA Statement on Biological Aspects of "Race"
http://www.virginia.edu/woodson/courses/aas102%20(spring%2001)/articles/AAPA_race.pdf

All that said, RACISM is very real, alive and thriving-
so

take every advantage you can to better yourself.

I experience more racism when people assume I am Latino, than when people assume I am "mixed" African American and "white".

If your father is "Hispanic" he has experienced racism in this country, unless he looks "white", there's no way around it.
That had at least an indirect affect on you. Take advantage of any and all scholarships you can.

good luck and remember that a success for one woman is a success for us all.

Race is not merely about how YOU look in the here and now and how that's affected you on a day to day basis, but it's also about how people treated your ancestors. You qualify for those scholarships because they exist in order to make up for the hundreds of years of oppression that has impacted POC - in other words, how it has affected your father and his family, of which you are a part. I think you should apply to those scholarships.

I love race policing in communities of color, and by "love" I mean *headdesk* - are you familiar with the terms "twinkie", "banana", or "oreo"? Sounds like you get called White Mexican for your outsides rather than for your behaviors, though. The funny part is that Mexicans show a huge variety of ethnic features due to the mix of Spanish and Indiginous peoples. I had a prof whose family emigrated (if that's the right word) to Mexico from Spain in the 1600s. He was fair skinned, European featured, and 100% Mexican.

Take the scholarships. Take them, take them, take them. How you feel about your own racial identity is irrelevant in this matter. You qualify for the money. Take it. There's no sliding scale here for partially-Mexican or whatnot. You qualify, and standing firm on this point that you're not even sure about can only serve to hurt you and your family. But that's the way racial policing works.

We're almost all mixed. That doesn't mean that we all come from equally advantaged backgrounds.

Identity is a complex issue for one to grapple with. After all, one of the age old questions is "Who am I?" For some, the issue is easier to deal with. As a white, heterosexual male I've got certain advantages in the identity game, belonging to the group to which all other constructs of identity are constructed against. But there are issues of identity that I do struggle with, though this is not the time or place to discuss. This post is about your concerns, thebeatles11, not mine; this is presented as mere preface.

I agree with what Hera wrote: race is a social construct, and has no basis in biology. But that is not to say that race does not exist, or the construct is not important. The constructs of nationality and culture are, like race, are social and not biological, but they nevertheless are ways and means of identity.

Identity is constructed by both oneself and by others. Far too often though we allow the construction of others to have more importance than one's own construction. How you identify yourself is far more important than how others identify you. We are social beings, so the opinions of others, especially those we care for or have some sort of relationship with are important, but such opinions ought not be more important than the opinion one has of oneself.

The question I ask of you is what do you think it means to be Mexican, or Hispanic? In thinking about this be aware of what is your thinking on the matter, and what is the culturally dominant opinion. Another aspect to consider is how your idea of what it means to be Mexican or Hispanic is coloured by living in the United States: would this be such an issue if you had grown up in Mexico. Emmigrant communities will often create an idealised version of their home culture that, whilst related, is nevertheless a hyper-version of that culture. Though a person from Yucatán and one from Sonora are both Mexican, and may well share many attributes of 'Mexicaness', they will each have many distictive cultural ideas and identities that neverthelss do not detract from their Mexicaness.

Being Australian, I don't quite know what it means for one Mexican to call another a "White Mexican", but I take it from your post that it is meant as a pejoritive, a way saying that one is not a real or true Mexican. I call bullshit on such notions of 'real' or 'true' whatever nationality or culture, especially when such a claim is made only on the basis of skin colour.

Part of your heritage and culture is Mexican, thebeatles11. No one can take that away from you, nor is it is not something that can be denied. It is entirely possible for you to be both American and Mexican, and to have ancestral roots from Italy, Germany, Spain or where-ever else. There is nothing wrong with you identifying yourself as Hispanic and White and Latina and Mexican and American all at once, for these are all aspect of you that make you who you are.

If applying for and gaining scholorships based on one part of your heritage and identity will be help you through college, then go for it. Use the system that is in place to your advantage. You're not cheating or gaming the system. Indeed, part of reason the system has been established is precisely so it can assist people in your position: children of recent immigrants from minority backgrounds.

I'm in the same boat, and I have put so many different things on forms. Usually if there's an option to put multiple races I put them, but if they make me choose just one I decline to state. I still haven't decided how I feel about scholarships. On the one hand a large part of my family does come from a minority group and I do speak that language and have spent time in that country. On the other hand, my family there isn't being oppressed, and I'm not being oppressed here. I technically fit the definition of those ethnicity based scholarships, but I don't think they're really meant for someone like me and I think a lot of people would be annoyed with me for applying for one. In the end, I've been lucky enough to find other types of financial aid, and I've never applied for a specifically ethnic scholarship.

Being female also makes me a minority in my field, and sometimes I wonder if I should list myself as an ethnic minority too to make my department look better. But then, I'd hate for that to have anything to do with me being accepted anywhere, so I think I'm happier with "decline to state." Unfortunately there's no way to decline to state my gender.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and concerns. I've been talking with my sister about such things too, and it's nice to know that others know where you're coming from. Again, thank you.

I can appreciate this post. I'm a mix of Latina and white, with Latin features on pale skin. A Columbian friend says in her country they call it mosca en leche (fly in the milk). I was mostly raised by my white parent and feel like I came removed from a whole other part of my heritage, which I'm learning more about (as well as the language, sloooowly) now.

Huh. I really thought this site was all about equality for all humans, but I guess not. I guess my snowy skin means that after I graduate college and maybe university, I'll have to spend my life paying off student debts. Believe it or not, white people stuggle with college money too. And if feminism supports inequality and reverse-racism, I guess I'm in the wrong place.

Tell me when you get a solution to your problem, I have a similar one, in which I look Mexican but have a Jewish last name.

Seriously, I'd appreciate hearing about your experiences.

The morning she went into labor, a hospital denied her stay because of her lack of coverage. My mom was told that had she been a minority, she would have been able to stay."

Sorry, but in what universe do Mexican immigrants get better health care than White Americans?

In the real world minorities get worse health care than Whites, across the board.

I hate it when people repeat those tired old White racist myths of how great things are for people of color in this institutionally racist country!