In my early formative days in America, while observing my classmates and watching TV and movies, I learned that race was as much about behavior—perceived behavior, expected behavior—as it was about physicality. “Don’t be too white,” I overheard my Mexican classmates tell each other. “Why are you acting so black?” my Filipino friends said to one another. None of the comments sounded complimentary. Sometimes the comments from my nonwhite, nonblack classmates were as negative toward “white” people as they were toward “black” people. Too often I stayed silent because I didn’t know what to say. I
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