Similar to "northern" Sudanese ... the list itself is a mess because the US is a Common Law country with Legislated acts pasted on top, so there is a series of laws and then judicial rulings on what the laws mean that result in that hodge podge, and so it in part picks up groups that have a large enough representation in the US to have been the source of plaintiffs in successful civil rights lawsuits.

Or, IOW, if an "Ethiopian American" wants to maximize their change at academic assistance, they should tick the "African American or Black" box and under the breath mutter, "by which I mean American with ancestry from a country located in Africa".

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.