Racial or ethnic misrepresentation occurs when someone deliberately misrepresents their racial or ethnic background. It may occur for a variety of reasons, such as someone attempting to benefit from affirmative action programs for which they are not eligible.

Critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goal ...

examines how people of European descent are, in recent history, more likely to pretend to be people of color. However, historically, many people of color passed as white for survival and safety. It is possible for a person of any race or ethnicity to misrepresent themselves or be misrepresented. Often racial misrepresentation occurs when people of one race or ethnicity, unfamiliar with real people of another culture, replicate the

racial stereotype An ethnic stereotype, racial stereotype or cultural stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype, or nation ...

s of that racial or ethnic group. Typically, this is seen as offensive when negative racial stereotypes are mimicked, but it can be also be experienced as inappropriate even when the imitation is intended as flattery. An example of this is people wearing culturally insensitive Halloween costumes that depict these stereotypes.

Notable cases

* H. G. Carrillo * Asa Earl Carter *

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born 1947) is an American author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

* "Iron Eyes" Cody * Rachel Dolezal * Jimmie Durham *

Anita Florence Hemmings Anita Florence Hemmings (June 8, 1872 – 1960) was known as the first African American woman to graduate from Vassar College. As she was of both African and European ancestry, she passed as white for socioeconomic benefits. After graduation, H ...

* Jamake Highwater * Margaret B. Jones (Margaret Seltzer) * Jessica Krug * Nasdijj (Timothy Patrick Barrus) * Merle Oberon * Grey Owl *

Korla Pandit Korla Pandit (September 16, 1921 – October 2, 1998), born John Roland Redd, was an American musician, composer, pianist, and organist. After moving to California in the late 1940s and getting involved in show business, Redd became known as "Kor ...

* Andrea Smith * Vianne Timmons *

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond Mary Ellen Elizabeth Turpel-Lafond (born February 1963) is a Canadian lawyer, former judge, and legislative advocate for children's rights. She was appointed in 2006 as British Columbia's first Representative for Children and Youth, an indepe ...

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a p ...

Notable cases

See also

References