Few things derail conversations about race and power faster than people who do not understand the difference between race, ethnicity, and nationality. You will see people, including some Black folks, argue endlessly about whether someone is “really White,” “really Black,” or “actually Latino,” without understanding that these are not interchangeable categories.
That misunderstanding is exactly what is happening right now with Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado. People keep insisting he “isn’t White” because his last name is Regalado, and therefore, he must be Hispanic, Latino, or Mexican.
So let’s get something straight.
A Spanish Surname Does Not Cancel Whiteness
Yes, Vic Regalado identifies as Latino. And yes, his surname is Spanish. But Spanish surnames are not proof of non-whiteness. The colonizers did not only come from England. They came from Spain. They came from France. They came from Portugal. They colonized the entire Western Hemisphere and brought their languages, their cultures, and their surnames with them.
That is how you end up with White people named Regalado, García, Martínez, and Hernández.
My own last name is Frank. It is German. My great-grandfather was a Jewish immigrant from Germany. But I do not look White, and I will never be treated as White, regardless of what my DNA says. Whiteness is not just ancestry; it is social positioning.
Vic Regalado, on the other hand, is white-passing or white-adjacent. He is racially ambiguous, and in many spaces, in a state like Oklahoma, he benefits from proximity to whiteness.
More importantly, he is aligned with and actively protects an institution that is currently rooted in white supremacy (i.e., U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE). That alignment matters more than his last name ever will.
Now that we have that context, let’s talk about what people keep confusing: race, ethnicity, and nationality.
The Difference Between Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality
Race
Race is a social construct. It is not biological. It is not scientific. It is the system societies use to group people based on physical traits such as skin color, hair texture, and facial features, and then assign power, value, and hierarchy to those groups.
In the United States, race is primarily read as Black, White, Asian, Indigenous, and so on. Race is not simply about ancestry. It is about how you are perceived and treated in the world.
That is why Barack Obama is racially Black even though his mother is White. That is why a light-skinned Dominican may be racially Black even if they reject that label.
And that is why a White Cuban is still racially White even though they are Latino. Race is your position in the racial power structure, not just your family tree or surname.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity, by contrast, is about cultural identity. It includes language, traditions, customs, ancestral history, and shared experiences. Latino, Arab, Jewish, Yoruba, Ewe, Haitian, and Jamaican are all ethnic identities.
Ethnicity does not equal race. You can be Black and Latino. You can be White and Latino. You can be Indigenous and Latino. You can be Asian and Latino. “Latino” is not a race. It is an ethnic identity tied to Latin American heritage. So yes, Vic Regalado can be Latino. That does not mean he is not White,
Notably, Vic Regalado’s support for ICE and Trump-era policies makes that proximity to whiteness unmistakable.
Nationality
Nationality is legal and political. It refers to the country you are from or hold citizenship in. American, Mexican, Nigerian, Brazilian, and French are nationalities. Nationality tells you where someone is from. It does not tell you their race. It does not tell you their ethnicity.
A person can be Black and French, White and South African, Indigenous and Mexican, or Asian and Brazilian.
The Bottom Line
Nationality is your passport. Race is power and perception. Ethnicity is culture and lineage. And this is where people get sloppy in the Vic Regalado conversation.
They see “Regalado,” assume Spanish, jump to Latino, and then conclude “not White.” That logic is historically ignorant. Spain is a European country. Spaniards were colonizers. They imposed their language, names, and culture across Latin America. That is why there are White Mexicans, White Colombians, White Cubans, and White Puerto Ricans.
Latino does not cancel out Whiteness. Ethnicity does not erase race. Vic Regalado can be ethnically Latino, racially White or White-adjacent, and nationally American all at the same time.
Proximity to Whiteness Is Proximity to Power
Beyond labels, what actually matters is this: Vic Regalado is operating inside and defending an institution with a long history of racial violence, anti-Blackness, anti-inclusion, and state power. He is not neutral. He is not disconnected. He is not some outside observer. He has chosen to align himself with an institution that has always functioned as a tool of white supremacy, regardless of what his last name is. That alignment is the story.
And here is the part people do not want to hear.
Race is not about your last name. It is not about your grandmother. It is not about your DNA test.
Race is about how close you are allowed to get to power. And Vic Regalado is close enough.
That is why the pushback is happening. That is why people are uncomfortable. That is why some are trying to reframe him as “not White,” because it feels easier than naming the reality.
Proximity to whiteness is still proximity to power, and those who benefit from it (i.e., those who are White adjacent) often protect institutions designed to maintain hierarchy, suppress marginalized communities, and sustain white supremacy.