The unbearable whiteness of being onstage at the Democratic debate Thursday night was glaring. And it gave entrepreneur Andrew Yang a rare chance of being the first candidate to be allowed an opportunity to ask a question.

What did it mean that theDemocratic field – while being the most diverse in history – was reflected onstage with six white candidates and a single Asian-American, Yang was asked.

"It's both an honor and a disappointment to be a candidate of color" onstage, Yang answered, adding how much he missed having Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey onstage with them. Booker, he said to applause, he expected to be back (Harris has dropped out of the race).

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"Why am I the lone candidate of color?" Perhaps, Yang said, because so few Americans can contribute to campaigns – and those are people with disposable income.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was asked the same question, and quickly tried to turn it back to the previous issue, climate change. That drew a rebuke from a moderator, who noted that the question was about race. That chastisement got a round of applause from the audience.