What Zendaya Leaves Unsaid. Her films rarely center on—or even acknowledge—her race, seemingly out of concern that focussing on identity might limit her characters’ emotional palettes. But why couldn’t it expand those palettes?

I mean, who gives a fuck about Zendaya’s race? She’s either an effective actor or not. She’s not a favorite of mine particularly, but she’s pretty solid in most things I’ve seen her in. That’s all that matters to me.

This focus on race over all else makes the country worse, not better. We were doing this in a far superior way in the 1990s when we were attempting to include, rather than divide. We should get back to that.