I’ve read this and the previous thread about Zimmerman’s whiteness/non-whiteness with interest and decided, with trepidations, thatI would toss this experience in the ring.

About fifteen years ago I taught for two years in a Long Island school district that was 87% Black, 12% Latino, and the rest “other.” This very discussion came up and I was astonished that my Latino students, largely Central American, stated that they did not consider themselves White.

After I controlled my surprise, I asked them what they did consider themselves. They considered themselves Latino, and no amount of discussion could convince them that Hispanics were considered to be White. Several students rejected that with the same example, ” my uncle/aunt/ grandmother/etc. is as Black as “Steven” over there, how can I be White? I’m Black more than I’m White.”

There it is. I was taken aback by the whole incident, but I’ve never forgotten it. Nothing is as black and white as it seems.