Am I White or Black Quiz
Questions: 15 · 10 minutes
1. When introducing your background in different social settings, what tends to happen?
I consistently use one racial label with no added explanation.
I use one main label and occasionally explain a relevant detail.
I usually combine labels so important parts are not omitted.
I intentionally use multiple or context-dependent labels because no single one is sufficient.
2. Which statement best captures your relationship with the racial label “Black”?
It describes part of my background, although I rarely use it for myself.
It is a primary part of how I identify.
It is not a racial identity I claim.
I identify as Black alongside another racial or ethnic identity.
3. When a demographic form includes a Black category and permits multiple selections, what do you generally choose?
I select Black along with another category.
I do not select Black.
I select Black only when its definition matches a particular part of my background.
I select Black as my sole racial category.
4. Relatives from different branches of your family are discussing how they are racially identified. Which pattern best matches your family?
The branches are generally identified in the same way.
There are minor differences, but one shared category still fits us.
Different branches have meaningfully different racial identities.
Those differences are central to understanding my own mixed or non-binary racial identity.
5. During a conversation about White communities and heritage, how personally included do you tend to feel?
Some parts feel personally relevant, while others do not.
I feel connected through family or social proximity, but not through my own racial label.
I generally feel the conversation is about a community I identify with.
I do not experience it as a conversation about my identity.
6. How explicitly does White identity appear in your family’s stories about itself?
It is central to how my family describes its background and identity.
It is relevant to certain branches or generations of my family.
It appears mainly as an outside classification rather than a family identity.
It does not meaningfully appear in our family stories.
7. A new acquaintance refers to you as White. Which reaction comes closest to yours?
I can understand the assumption, but White is not my own identity.
That description feels clearly inaccurate.
That feels accurate but leaves out another important part of my identity.
That feels straightforwardly accurate.
8. How well does a single racial category capture your identity?
It captures my identity fully and comfortably.
It usually works, although I sometimes add a qualification.
It works only when I can also name another important part of my identity.
No single category adequately represents me.
9. A form requires you to choose only White or Black. How does that restriction affect your answer?
One option fits me without difficulty.
I can choose the closer option, but it misses some nuance.
I would want to select more than one category or add a written identity.
The binary fundamentally misrepresents my identity.
10. When choosing your own racial identity words, what place does “White” have?
It is one of my labels, but I usually pair it with another identity.
It is the primary racial label I use for myself.
It may describe part of my family or background more than my personal identity.
It is not a racial label I use for myself.
11. An official form allows you to select more than one racial category. What would you usually do?
I would not select White.
I would select White along with at least one other category.
I would select White alone.
Whether I selected White would depend on how the form defined its categories.
12. How often do other people’s reactions to you make Black identity feel socially relevant in your life?
Frequently, and that social recognition generally matches my identity.
Occasionally, but usually because of assumptions rather than my own identity.
Sometimes, as one part of a more complex identity.
Black identity is not a meaningful feature of how others respond to me.
13. What role does Black identity play in your family’s account of its heritage?
It is important in one or more branches, alongside other identities.
It has little or no place in how my family describes its heritage.
There may be a broad historical or diasporic connection, but Black is not our usual identity label.
It is central across the family stories that shaped my identity.
14. If someone asked, “Are you White or Black?” which response would feel most accurate?
I could choose one without reservation.
I would choose one but add a qualification.
I would name more than one identity, although one remains more central.
I would reject the binary and answer both, neither, or with another identity.
15. At an event celebrating Black history and culture, what best describes your sense of connection?
I would mainly experience myself as a supportive guest or ally.
It feels like the history and culture of a community I belong to.
I would not experience a personal identity connection to the event.
It connects meaningfully to part of my background, though not all of it.