Let me tell you about "transcends race" especially when applied to people. A white ex-friend once told me reassuringly that he never saw me as Asian, he just saw me as normal

So, "transcending race" has nothing to do with the individual being discussed or their actions, it has to do with what white society makes of the individual being discussed

It's an inherently destructive construct, because it puts the onus on poc to "transcend," implying that it is a moral failure for poc to simply exist without white approval