Lupita Nyongāo believes race is a āsocial constructā because, growing up in Kenya, she never thought of herself as āBlackā. The 36-year-old Pisces was born in Mexico but raised in Kenya, which gave her a different perspective on race and racism in Black America. She tells BBC Newsnight that she still experienced ācolorismā prejudice due to having darker skin. But it was only after she arrived in the U.S. that she saw how people were divided by race. āRace is a very social construct, one that I didnāt have to ascribe to on a daily basis growing up,ā she says. āAs much as I was experiencing colorism in Kenya, I wasnāt aware that I belonged to a race called Black.ā Lupita said she only realized she was Black when she moved to America, ābecause suddenly the term Black was being ascribed to me and it meant certain things that I was not accustomed to.ā Lupita says she was once told she was ātoo darkā to appear on TV, and that she was not as pretty as her sister, who had lighter ...