When I become very tan, a lot of white people think I look Black. This is puzzling to me because when I see really tan white people, I don’t think they look Latino.

I’m back from a blissful week of tropical sun, which has apparently left me looking like a “relaxed,” “happy” cast member of UPN’s Girlfriends. Before my island getaway, I was the color of congealed oatmeal and suffering from vitamin-D deficiency induced depression. After an intensive sun-swimming-SPF 70 intervention, my complexion has deepened to a cinnamon or burnt sienna hue.

This is a Toni Morrison way of saying, I’m really tan. [ . . . ] Continue »

Introducing the “Is it a white thing?” series.

These “Is it a white thing?” essays posit questions about behavioral and cultural quirks observed in the abstract and offensively generalized “white community.” You know, the kind of stuff nonwhite people puzzle over amongst ourselves before going to stuffwhitepeoplelike.com to cross-reference our conclusions. [ . . . ] Continue »