“Whiteness” at least in North America, is hardly about skin tone. Many groups have been excluded over the years that you’d think would count and it’s usually class or religion is why they’re excluded - Irish weren’t considered white, European Jewish people still mostly aren’t, Greeks, etc. It wasn’t really until the 80s/90s that Italian people were considered white, and that was only after decades of effort from the Italian American community to be incorporated, which is where the controversial holiday for Christopher Columbus came from.

Pascal may be ethnically European but he has features and a name that signal he’s from a group that is currently excluded (ie. anyone south of Tijuana.)