Questions?

Racism is one of the only institutions Americans are still willing to vote to protect.

These aren't normal questions from strangers. Unless you have a strong reason to, you don't assume details about people's lives when getting to know more about them. Even the questions on the left are presumptuous and can represent a faux pas, but they're mild enough that the recipient would likely correct any wrong premise without making it an incident. But trying to guess details reflects poorly on you if you are wrong. Mostly you would express interest in what you can see about someone as an invitation for them to share more if they care to.

but then I read the married guy’s comment..

Kinda amusing that you didnt take this seriously until you had a white male confirm it for you.

Note: am white male, I just saw the irony (?) in the situation.