some people insist that there can't possibly be any racism in publishing (or that racism can't possibly be the explanation for why disproportionately fewer books are being published by black authors), because "no one puts their race in their query letter, so how can agents and editors be biased against race?"
You might not put your race/ethnicity in a query letter, but even taking aside the subject matter of your book, a name might give a clue. I have a Spanish last name, and I've often wondered how and if that affects some people's perceptions of my work.
[slight derail]
I was born in the U.S. (as were my parents). I am only 25% Spanish. English is my first and only language. I was an English lit major. I'm qualified to teach high school English. I have an ivy league law degree. And yet, in my professional and personal life, I've had people assume I'm an immigrant and that English is my second language, solely on the basis of my last name. (My real first name is unusual, but not Hispanic, by the way -- though many make hilarious attempts to pronounce it in a "Spanish" way.)
Indeed, the assumption is so common I included an essay in my college and law school applications explaining why I was checking the "Caucasian" rather than the "Hispanic" box. In law school and at more than one job, I was repeated urged to join Hispanic associations and/or pressured to count myself as Hispanic, even after explaining why I didn't feel it was appropriate. Heh. A (now rather famous) law school classmate told me I was betraying Latinas by not doing so. My "but I'm not Latina" had no effect.
And alas, it is not a neutral assumption. Many who make it accessorize it with a matching assumption that I got special consideration for my name, or I wouldn't be where I am. Many of them come out and admit it, always with an assurance that they think it's great because diversity, etc. (Why, yes, I do have a chip on my shoulder about this, thank you.)
An informal survey of friends and acquaintance indicates that this does not happen to people with Italian, Polish, or French last names. However, many acquaintances with Hispanic last names have had the same experience.
[end derail]
An acquaintance advised me to take a pen name -- she said if she saw my name on a book cover, she'd probably assume the book was a translation. I don't intend to do it. I prefer to think she's an outlier. But I've sometimes wondered if (and how many) other people would make the same assumption, and whether it would matter.