You know, I read Shadow as ambiguous (which, no, does not exclude being white but does reduce the chances), but I really hate this argument. Because it's not just dark-skinned people who get these questions, and I feel like people weaken their own argument when they say it. Now many inclined towards a white-centric view who may have reexamined their thoughts will remember their relative who doesn't fit that mold* and carry on in their ignorance.
*My mother (and to a less extent my sister) are asked about their heritage a LOT. The most common question is if they are First Nations/specific tribe, but it's not exclusive. We have a couple very distant relations who are first nations (like 6 generations back), but they are white for all intents and purposes. Their skin is not dark and none of their features individually scream anything other than our very white-even-by-white-standards European. Some people just have a look to them that screams OTHER for no tangible reason. Shadow was actually pretty interesting in this regard- the part mentioned upthread made me think HE didn't know what he "was" and the unknown element came from his father's side. Which turns out to be true in a way, but not in the way I first thought.
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*My mother (and to a less extent my sister) are asked about their heritage a LOT. The most common question is if they are First Nations/specific tribe, but it's not exclusive. We have a couple very distant relations who are first nations (like 6 generations back), but they are white for all intents and purposes. Their skin is not dark and none of their features individually scream anything other than our very white-even-by-white-standards European. Some people just have a look to them that screams OTHER for no tangible reason. Shadow was actually pretty interesting in this regard- the part mentioned upthread made me think HE didn't know what he "was" and the unknown element came from his father's side. Which turns out to be true in a way, but not in the way I first thought.