its a sport that takes a very special mindset. i knew anything longer than a 400 wasnt for me the first time i ran an 800 (sidenote: ultimately track altogether wasn't for me. the objective didn't trigger my interests) and no amount of convincing attempts wouldve ever gotten me to think otherwise

but if you feel the whole "white kid" thing is his hangup and not the mindset i'd do some research on great black/african distance runners. maybe assign that to him as a personal project or something if you think it'd trigger his interest.

and try to maybe find him some black mentors in the local CC/distance running event/competition community. itd definitely help to see more similar faces and a path already ran that he can follow.