Introspective Pigeonholing, or Why Can't an Asian Study Whitey Too?

Everyone knows the various stereotypes within academia; for example, the math, science, and engineering departments are all filled with Asians and Indians.

However, you can find similar pigeonholing within academic disciplines. For example, a black person is supposed to be teaching something about African or African-American history, while an Asian person is supposed to be teaching Asian history.

I can understand it if its the case, but what if you simply don't care to study it? I've come across people who can't get over the fact that their advisers simply try to shepherd them into the "appropriate" minority field of study. I remember coming across a woman who faced the same frustrations. Apparently because she was a woman, the expectation was that she would study women's history, which was not the case.

Some people try to dress it up as "knowing the subject of study well" and "knowing the audience" but what they fail to realize is that some people would rather just study old dead white dudes. Sometimes old dead white dudes with guns.