As more U.S. youth claim "mixed" heritages, some adults are proposing to erase race words altogether from the nation's inequality analysis. Yet such proposals, as detailed ethnography shows, ignore the complex realities of continuing racialized practice. At an urban California high school in the 1990s, "mixed" youth strategically employed simple "race" categories to describe themselves and inequality orders, even as they regularly challenged these very labels' accuracy. In so "bending" race categories, these youth modeled a practical and theoretical strategy crucial for dealing thoughtfully with race in 21st century America. (Contains 4 notes.)