Daniel Lewkow Identity Politics

This clip, from Mean Girls, is a classic case example of comedy and identity politics. In the scene, one of the girls is surprised that Lohan's character could be from Africa and could also be white. This goes with the presumption that all people from Africa are black. Obviously, this is not true. But by innocently asking the question (and thus reenforcing the stereotype), the character continues this ignorant thinking. The other girl's response to the question ("You can't ask somebody why they're white") does not address the real issue of hte question in the first place, thus furthering the ignorance.