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People wanting to know what race you are?

Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
edited June 2006 in Strut Central
Does anyone else get this? I get this shit pretty damn often and sometimes within the first few minutes of meeting someone new. I start getting this a lot post high-school.
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  Comments

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Damn... I'm very dissapointed to hear that grown folks think this is an acceptable question to ask
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    It's 'cause you look "quasi-ethnic".

    sosanfranciscorightnow

  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    It's 'cause you look "quasi-ethnic".

    sosanfranciscorightnow



    I've gotten "well, you don't act latino".

    where's that bungay graemlin when you need it.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    my stock answer is Parkdale
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    i think everyone besides black and white people get this. I don't mind it at all though. Besides it's good to ask, because you can't tell the difference between Asians anyway. nor the difference among various middle-eastern folks. hell, i probably couldn't tell the difference between europeans.
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.
  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.


    NOT BY YOUR POSTS ON SOULSTRUT!

  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts




    I've gotten "well, you don't act latino".

    or you don't act (insert your race here).
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    I'm waiting for this to turn into a 5 page race thread! LOL
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Irish, Scottish, Swedish....blonde, blue eyed and deeply afraid of the sun...
  • MorseCodeMorseCode 1,516 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.


    NOT BY YOUR POSTS ON SOULSTRUT!


    Wait! Chan's not asian?

  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    Irish, Scottish, Swedish....blonde, blue eyed and deeply afraid of the sun Republicans, Vitamin, & Sabbadabba...

  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.


    NOT BY YOUR POSTS ON SOULSTRUT!


    Wait! Chan's not asian?


    That's how I dress when I go to the club!
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Damn.....I never get asked what race I am....


    I only get..."So what is it like in prison"!!!
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.


    NOT BY YOUR POSTS ON SOULSTRUT!


    Wait! Chan's not asian?


    That's how I dress when I go to the club!

    Escada makes martial arts robes?
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Irish, Scottish, Swedish....blonde, blue eyed and deeply disgusted by the sun Republicans, Vitamin, & Sabbadabba...

  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    I'm Irish/Norwegian/Swedish. It is very obvious that I am a very white guy.


    NOT BY YOUR POSTS ON SOULSTRUT!


    Wait! Chan's not asian?


    That's how I dress when I go to the club!

    Escada makes martial arts robes?

    Yes son! I thought you had a pink striped one with "Harlem" on the back in cubic zirconias!!! I got a silk Escada martial arts robe with "Super Chan" on the back in rhinestones. Plaese believe it mayne.
  • ladydayladyday 623 Posts
    I get this question almost daily. I usually get confused and say "New Jersey" and then get a puzzled look from the person.

    I've been asked if I'm Spanish, Italian, Greek, Indian, Middle Eastern, French-Canadian (huh???) and who knows what else.

    Sometimes they don't even ask, they just start speaking to me in whatever language they speak until they figure out I have no idea what they are saying.

    (For the record I'm half Cuban and the rest Polish/Russian/Czech/etc.)
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    My wife, who is 100% Portuguese, gets this question pretty often--must be the jet black hair.

    I think the best response is to smile and say, "Well, in light of, you know, recent events, I'd really rather not say."

    Then just stare at them with wide eyes and slight grin. Should make them as uncomfortable as their question has made you.
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    I've been asked if I'm Spanish, Italian, Greek, Indian, Middle Eastern, French-Canadian (huh???) and who knows what else.



    I feel your pain.
    I've gotten:
    Latino (all over Latin America), Indian, Native American, all of Southern Europe, Half Japanese (?), Eskimo (this one I just couldn't understand), Turkish, sundry Middle Eastern countries, Jewish North African, Egyptian, Brasilian, and the list goes on.

    I find it kind of interesting (sometimes). After 9-11,people's attitudes toward me in public places started to suck (frequent death stares and bad service) and then I realized it will now surely suck to be an Arab in America. My sister got punched in the stomach in Germany (she looks VERY much like me) by an old lady who hated Turks.
    Peace
    T.N.
  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    yeah this sucks. i hate it when people try to guess or try to greet me with "konichiwa" or some lame ignorant shit. and then when they do guess correctly they gotta misprounounce it

    "vietman[/b]ese"
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    My wife, who is 100% Portuguese, gets this question pretty often--must be the jet black hair.

    I think the best response is to smile and say, "Well, in light of, you know, recent events, I'd really rather not say."

    Then just stare at them with wide eyes and slight grin. Should make them as uncomfortable as their question has made you.

    In my experience (as an observer rather than the recipient of the question) it's usually somewhat less brazen, along the lines of "Where are you from?" followed by ass-hurt consternation when the racially confounding person says where they're from, rather then where their grandparents are from.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I look Jewish and most people don't need to ask. When I was in Oklahoma the Okies had no Idea I was Jewish. When I told them they didn't believe it because they hated Jews. Also some half thought Jews had horns. These are people who never saw a Woody Allen movie.

    They also didn't believe I was from DC becuase "The President lives there". Very different from the Virginia / Carolina redneck response "Aren't there a lot of Black people there?". (OK I'm from the vanilla 'burbs.)
  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    A few years ago, someone asked me if I was half Japanese.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts


    Sometimes they don't even ask, they just start speaking to me in whatever language they speak until they figure out I have no idea what they are saying.


    i get this too.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    When I get it I am taken aback. But it does not offend me. I am proud of my heritage. I think people are more looking for common ground than trying to put you in a box. Accept those people who say "you don't act _____".
  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    I have a big nose, so 9 times out of 10, people just assume I'm Jewish.

    Then again, this German dude at ModChicago asked me where I was from, and was real disappointed that I said North Carolina. "You don't look American," he said. "You look Scottish."







  • ladydayladyday 623 Posts
    When I get it I am taken aback. But it does not offend me. I am proud of my heritage. I think people are more looking for common ground than trying to put you in a box. Accept those people who say "you don't act _____".

    Accept or Except?
  • verb606verb606 2,518 Posts
    I can't believe people still say "Well, you don't act _______." I (white) usually just try to figure it out by conversing with the person. That is if I'm curious. I think it's ok to ask if it comes up in conversation or there's a need to know or something. But just some "Hi, nice to meet you. My, don't you look interesting. What ethnicity are you?" is
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    Accept those people who say "you don't act _____".

    rather than accept their stereotyped view of me and my culture I think its best to try to educate them.

    Although its kind of hard to tell a guy with his longstanding belief that he may not be correct in his prejudiced assumptions
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