You know, she doesn't look black. In fact, she is just about the whitest black person I've ever seen.

This morning I received this email from a colleague:

I just want to remind [you] about our commitment to Africology 2/22. Our topic is posted as BLACK PhD STUDENTS in the US: Panel on Graduate Education. I'm sorry I have been so busy and gone most of January so this one got away from me. I don't expect a big crowd. I anticipate a casual discussion about our road to graduate studies including a brief discussion about our work.

I responded:

Per your request here's my CV. So, my question is, is it OK that I'm white? I certainly am happy to present but I'm not in a position to speak on the topic of being a black doctoral student.

Colleague replied:

I know, [islander]. Don't sweat it. You can certainly talk about doing "minority" studies and some of your experiences in that area. I believe that the chair of Africology thinks we're all black..

The thing is, though I study race and ethnicity, "minority studies" doesn't really work either because, pathetic as it may be, I am mostly interested in "diversity" as a cultural imperative organizing our everyday approaches to difference.

The other thing is that this (having it assumed that I'm not white as a result of my research or position) has happened to me a few times now.