It's very weird to me rich Nigerians can abuse the system, but poor South Africans are rejected as 'African American' altogether due to the color of their skin. Honestly, US race dealings are a cancer, I would move anywhere else.
There is a massive historical element to the position that most black americans find themselves in now. But there is also ongoing racism, which I don't see how you can tackle with only color blind policies.
The fact that all of the various workarounds end up targeting people nominally outside the scope is a feature, not a bug.