Tom, I can so relate to your experience of complicated racial identity, of not being one or the other, and yet feeling at times both. I have olive brown skin, dark brown eyes and hair – and have often been stopped by strangers in the street and asked “where do you come from?” My mum is Muslim Malay, and came to Australia during the dying days of White Australia Policy. My dad is a (white) New Zealander, who came to Australia in his teens, but still identifies strong as a Kiwi. I was born in Papua New Guinea when it was still Australian trust territory, but was denied an Australian passport to re-enter Australia, so had to come in as a New Zealander – though decades later, I’ve now had it confirmed I am actually Australian by birth. In Malaysia, they see me as white, and in Australia, I think my looks are seen as “exotic” (and have been fetishised as such). I’ve often wondered if I can claim the descriptor of a “person of colour” – now it’s become a popularised term, particularly in the arts. Do I have a right to answer submission calls for writing by “people of colour”, when to some extent my life experience leans more to the “white” side of the spectrum? (though not completely – I’ve always felt a bit other. And the non-practising, cultural Muslim partial identity adds a whole other dimension.) Thing is – as you’ve identified – in our increasingly multicultural world, many people’s experience of race is not binary. I’ve been meaning to write on this topic for a long time, and as I said above, I can relate strongly to your experience in this regard. You are not alone.