A city council candidate says he’s black. But his opponent accuses him of being a white man pretending to be black. If race is simply a social construct and not a biological reality, how do we determine someone’s race? And who gets to decide? We tell the story of a man whose racial identity was fiercely contested… and the consequences this had on an entire city. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.