I have to admit, I laughed right out loud when I read that Blaise was black, as much from my own surprise as from predicting the "blacklash" that was sure to take place. Kind of like an employer who speaks to an job applicant over the phone and likes what (s)he hears, then when meeting him/her in an interview, is shocked to find that (s)he is black. (But (s)he spoke so well over the phone! And his/her name is Tommy/Sarah Jones not Montavious/ShaQuita Jenkins!) Employer then assumes that Tommy/Sarah can't possibly do as good a job as whoever Employer imagined Tommy/Sarah to be over the phone.