Sometime during my teens I watched the 1986 movie “Soul Man” starring C. Thomas Howell. He played a spoiled rich fella who, in order to get into Harvard after his wealthy family refused to pay for college, ingested drugs to make his skin darken. He thus looked African American and became eligible for a minority scholarship.
One of the scenes that resonated with me involved a white woman–played by Melora Hardin later of the television show “The Office”– who made it a mission to hook up with men of color.
She says dramatically to Howell’s character while she’s seducing him that she doesn’t see black or white, only shades of gray.
