Here's the thing, you don't always necessarily know. But your mind is always doing that extra calculation to figure out what is going on.

"Is this person questioning my credentials because they question everyone's credentials?" "Was that crude comment made because they're just oblivious or because they're actually racist?" "Does this person treat everyone just as poorly, is it something I'm doing, or is it prejudice?"

Having to do that double mental processing can be exhausting if you're in an environment where people are insensitive or outright offensive. Some people handle it better than others but it can take its toll on anyone.

The EEO questions on a job application are my favorite.

Certainly putting white or Asian would never be a detriment, but probably isn't a positive either. It's just neutral, default. I can't lie and say that I'm white or Asian, so should I just leave it blank? Then I'm hiding something. I must be black. Should I fill it out and say that I'm black, and pray to god that doesn't trigger some internal bias in the split second where someone decides to bin my application or not? Either way it's guaranteed to be a negative or a positive, not a neutral meaningless thing as it should.

Ironic because on the mostly white hiring committees I’ve been on, being a woman or black gives huge bonus points. I’m in the med west and that seems to be how it goes around here.

>Ironic because on the mostly white hiring committees I’ve been on, being a woman or black gives huge bonus points. I’m in the med west and that seems to be how it goes around here.

That's basically my whole point. It's always going to be either a positive or a negative, not a neutral meaningless thing like it is for white guys. In your experience it's been positive, but I can't imagine that's always the case.

Why are blacks always put in a position to have to answer this very question?

Because the burden of proof should lie on the person making the claim.

Only if the claim is particularly novel. If you say that your computer failed when the power went out, you'd rightly be irritated if somebody asked you for proof. One is expected to have a certain base level of knowledge before jumping into a discussion.

No it's not. If you claim "my computer doesn't work" and your fixit guy says "yes it does", it is up the person making the claim to show that it doesn't work. Otherwise, no one will take you seriously.