We dive right into the messiness of boxes and categories with the life and legacy of Walter F. White, a key figure in the early civil rights movement whose story is as gripping as any novel. A light-skinned Black man, he risked his life by going undercover to investigate lynchings, infiltrating white supremacist spaces to report from within. His existence alone challenged America’s obsession with racial categories, exposing just how unstable—and dangerous—those lines can be.

His story reminds us that race in America isn’t black and white—it’s complicated, coded, and full of contradictions. And that makes it all the more important to study, especially in a time when the truth is under fire.