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When I was 19, I did night security at an arena.
A black girl I knew once told me her father was a professional photographer, and was usually the guy doing the backstage stuff at this particular venue... he got to meet a bunch of famous people. I mentioned this to a friend at some point, out of boredom. I couldn't remember the photographer's name, other than his last name was Adams. My friend was like "Yeah, Ansel Adams". I didn't know any better. I figured he knew what he was saying.
One night at an event, a black guy with an F5 came in the back entrance and started to walk past me. I walked toward him and said "Ansel!" He froze. I walked up and said "Are you Ansel Adams?" He looked really offended and got super defensive, saying "NO! Why would you ask me that? Why would you think I'm Ansel Adams?" I apologized, saying "Oh, sorry, I went to school with his daughter... I just thought..." More strange looks.
I went 10 years thinking this guy was overly-sensitive about being black... I mean, it's not like I haven't confused 2 white people before. It was all circumstantial. Knowing this Ansel Adams guy was black, of course I wouldn't ask a white guy if he was Ansel. My bad though, I guess. Fuck, whatever.
I eventually found out who Ansel Adams was (it took me 10 years to get over the embarrassment and Google him) then realized I am mildly racist, and also that some random black dude thinks I'm a psycho / IRL troll.
