Racial or ethnic misrepresentation occurs when someone deliberatelymisrepresents their racial or ethnic background. It may occur for a variety of reasons, such as someone attempting to benefit fromaffirmative action programs for which they are not eligible.^[1][2][3][4]

Historically, many people of color passed as white for survival and safety. It is possible for a person of any race or ethnicity to misrepresent themselves or be misrepresented.^[5][6] Racial misrepresentation often occurs when people of one race or ethnicity, unfamiliar with real people of another culture, replicate theracial stereotypes of that racial or ethnic group. Typically, this is seen as offensive when negative racial stereotypes are mimicked, but it can be also be experienced as inappropriate even when the imitation is intended as flattery.^[7] An example of this is people wearingculturally insensitive Halloween costumes that depict these stereotypes.^[8]

• H. G. Carrillo, African-American who falsely presented as Cuban.^[9][10]
• Asa Earl Carter, white American who falsely presented asCherokee.^[11]
• Ward Churchill, white American who falsely claimed to be of mixedMuscogee, Creek, and Cherokee descent.^[4]
• "Iron Eyes" Cody, Sicilian-American who falsely claimed to be a member of numerous Native American tribes.^[12][13]
• Misha Defonseca (Monique de Wael), Belgian gentile who falsely presented as a JewishHolocaust survivor.^[14]
• Rachel Dolezal, white American of German, Czech, and Swedish descent who falsely presented as Black.^[15][16][17]
• Jimmie Durham, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.^[18][19]
• Anita Florence Hemmings, mixed race woman of African and European descent whopassed as white.^[20]
• Jamake Highwater, white American of Eastern European descent who falsely presented as Cherokee.^[21][22][23]
• Marie Sophie Hingst, German gentile who falsely presented as descended from Jewish Holocaust survivors.^[24]
• Elizabeth Hoover, white American who falsely claimed to be of mixedMohawk andMi’kmaq ancestry^[25]
• Margaret B. Jones (Margaret Seltzer), white American who falsely claimed to be half-Native American.^[26]
• Jessica Krug, white American who falsely presented as half-Algerian, half-German, andAfro-Puerto Rican on different occasions.^[27][10]
• Nasdijj (Timothy Patrick Barrus), white American of European descent who falsely claimed to beNavajo.^[26]
• Merle Oberon, half-Burgher, half-Welsh woman who falsely claimed to be a fully white woman of Australian descent.^[28]
• Grey Owl, white Englishman who falsely presented as a mixed-race man of Scottish andApache descent.^[29][30][31]
• Korla Pandit, African-American who falsely presented asFranco-Indian.^[32][33]
• Buffy Sainte-Marie, white American of English and Italian descent who falsely claimed to beCree Canadian.^[34]
• Sacheen Littlefeather, American of European and Mexican descent who falsely claimed to bePascua Yaqui.^[35]
• Andrea Smith, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.^{[36][37][38][39][40]}
• Vianne Timmons, white Canadian who falsely claimed to be ofMi'kmaq descent.^[41]
• Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, white Canadian who falsely claimed to be of Cree descent.^[42]
• Elizabeth Warren, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.^{[43][44][45][46][47]}

• Cultural appropriation
• Passing (race)
• Pretendian
• Transracial (identity)
• Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States

• Race-related controversies
• Academic scandals
• History of racism in the United States
• Racial impostors
• Racial hoaxes
• Hoaxes in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata