I don't like calling myself white. Not because I don't like labels. They can be useful at times, and -- like it or not -- they're the default way human minds work. I don't like calling myself white because it just doesn't seem to fit. Never did.

My birth certificate says I'm white. My family says we're white. I get marginalized quite a bit because I'm autistic, and I know it would be a lot worse if I weren't seen as white. But it just doesn't feel right, like it gives me a bit of a cringe when I look in the mirror. That's me? Really? Just doesn't feel right.

My DNA test tells a slightly different story. 100% European for the past century or two. After that, it gets interesting. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. And other people sense it too. Every now and then someone (usually a Black or Indigenous person) asks me if I'm mixed, and I say yes and thank them for noticing.

Recently I got a COVID booster and they asked my race. I rankled a bit, like I always do when they ask that. Then I said human. I don't know what they put on the form. Yeah -- I know they have to keep track of demographics for the CDC. I hope that one little data point won't mess things up too much. I know how statistics work, I teach math. It won't. Statistics is about trends. White people are more likely to get the COVID shot because we weren't Tuskeegee'd.

Don't worry, I'm not going to pull a Rachel Dolezol. And I'm definitely not going to apply for reparations, or scholarships, or job placement preferences, or anything like that. I just want to sound off a bit about being stuck in a body with a label that doesn't fit.

Anyone else feel this way?