In the Philippines, most people can tell that I am at least half-Filipina despite having a lighter skin color. However, in Hawaii, almost everyone would assume that I am from the mainland. In the midwest, I can easily pass as racially ambiguous to most people. I was even asked once if I was Middle Eastern. One day, when checking “Asian” on the form, my instructor frowned, cringed, and shook her head in disbelief.
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I grew up in New York. If that happened to me, I’d ask the instructor if she had a fuckin’ problem, and that’d probably be the end of it. I wouldn’t even think about it a second later. I’m not saying that to sound edgy or tough, that’s just how it goes.
I just say “my family are from San Antonio” and leave it at that.
My dad’s family were in south San Antonio for so long that they have no idea how much of their ancestry is what. We know they’re some mix of German and mestizo, but they all just came out looking vaguely Spanish.
My grandpa speaks both German and Spanish fluently and doesn’t like to talk about his family which doesn’t offer us many clues.
On forms, I mark white because it’s what I most look like. But I grew up knowing how to speak Spanish and cheering for the Mexican national team.
Race is complicated.
>One day, when checking “Asian” on the form, my instructor frowned, cringed, and shook her head in disbelief.
That’s messed up.
As a general rule I try not to involve myself with the type of people who make any sort of deal about ethnicity and race in surface level interactions.
Born and raised in Yugoslavia. In the US, most people think I’m Brazilian, Latino, or Portuguese, especially when they hear me speak even though I have obvious Slavic accent.
Jews also think I’m Jewis because of the Slavic accent, and some people even told me I look Arabic or Persian, but it is never Arabs or Persians.
I went to school in a heavily Persian area, and everyone thought I was Persian as well.
Persian girls would hit on me until they realized I wasnt Persian, then they lost all interest.
Other that bummer, I had no issues at all
I look exactly what I am… the best
I’m similarly ethnically ambiguous. Maybe I’m blessed to live in a particularly progressive area but people just accept whatever I tell them.
I don’t give a shit. Being of Greek descent, I suppose people expect me to be dark (hair, skin, eyes) but not all Greeks look like that.
Those of us with multiple racial backgrounds understand something that no one is ready to have a conversation about: race is assigned.
People like to think it’s a cut-and-dry thing created by genetic history, but no, it’s all judgment calls based on your appearance and the life experiences of the beholder. It’s messy and ambiguous and, most importantly, arbitrary.
I’m Jewish but I don’t “look” Jewish. Which obviously is really stupid, but I’ve experienced other people doubting me, including having a (Israeli!) boss try to tell me I couldn’t take Yom Kippur off because I’m not Jewish. (in retrospect, he made some assumptions based on something I said in my interview but I am sure if I looked different we never would have had the resulting weird conversation.)
I don’t really care tbh. honestly it probably makes my life easier.
Don’t know if it counts but my dad is half Mexican/half German. I’m white as fuck and no matter how hard I try I can’t put any sort of accent on my Spanish.
I don’t look Latina, apparently. Questions like “are you Lebanese (or Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, etc.)?” don’t bother me.
Questions like “You don’t look Mexican, what are you REALLY?” do bother me. I figure that as the person asking the question clearly doesn’t mind making me uncomfortable, they can’t complain if I turn it around and make them uncomfortable by asking questions about why they need to know, why they don’t believe my original response, what I *should* look like according to them, etc.
I’m mixed race as well, and thanks to Mom being white as a ghost, people usually can’t tell I’m mixed. There were several instances growing up that people would say racist things about Latinos or Natives in front of me or my mom because they were unaware of my Dad’s background. I almost got physical a couple of times because of it.
The exception to this inability to tell is people from Central America and Mexico who try to speak to me in Spanish, and then I have to politely explain as best I can that my spoken Spanish is garbage.
I’m a total WASP but the spelling of my last name sometimes prompts someone to ask if I am Jewish. It’s always Jews who ask (probably because any non-Jew who asks if you’re Jewish gives off a Gestapo vibe), so I have learned to be careful with how I answer. A few times the question caught me off guard, and I responded with something like “HAHAHAHA…no” and I could tell they thought I was like overly merry about not being Jewish…when in actuality my laughter was about me being the exact opposite of what in America would be considered a minority of any kind, so it’s just funny to me, like being asked if you’re an avid skier if you have no legs.
Doesn’t bother me that someone might think I’m Jewish, it’s just a funny thing to me. But in a world in which some people *would* be offended or horrified, gotta keep them giggles under wraps.
You have no idea how many people show their anti-Semitism the moment I mention I’m half Jewish (Ashkenazi.) Just because I don’t look it suddenly people are an authority on what Jewish people should look like and how they should act, and it’s always just the stereotypes. The only stereotype I do fit is the big nose.
Father is Russian, mother is Japanese. I’m completely ambiguous and have lived all over the world. People get very confused when I discuss my citizenship and heritage. It’s funny asking people what they think I look like.
I don’t think anyone has ever cringed when I told them my racial make-up. I mostly get surprised or intrigued responses.
I’m adopted and my bio father was Ashkenazi Jewish and my bio mother was from a India but had a Pakistani father. My adoptive parents are white and my adoptive brothers are Mexican-American. My adoptive moms stepdad is Mexican and so I grew up speaking Spanish. Therefor I’m fairly fluent.
I *have* had people try to argue with me when I tell them I am NOT Latina or Mexican. Yes, they knew I was adopted.
“Oh no, I’m not actually Mexican. I’m actually half Ashkenazi and half Desi!”
“No honey, you speak Spanish. I think you’re confused.”
Well, that happened once but to this day I’m still shocked someone would a) fight me on my own ethnicity b) believe because I spoke Spanish I must be of Spanish origin…. I’m not.
I think your instructor woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I might be surprised and a little confused. There are so many mixed people in the US. I’ll ask if matters so much that they will treat me differently. If yes, I would stop interacting with them. I’d request another instructor because of her reaction though.
I’m dark white and don’t really look like anything specific, which has led to a lot of wild guesses, mainly in the Mediterranean. They wouldn’t be wrong, but I also have a good amount of northern European in there. I usually keep it simple and tell people I’m just Spanish and German since those are the largest portions and the ones most culturally relevant in recent family tradition. Far and away the most common guess is Italian (some), then Portuguese (some), Greek (none that I know of), North African or Middle Eastern (maybe, but it would be way back), and Jewish (possibly, I guess).
I am a plain old white girl from Alabama with largely British roots. My Ancestry results concur.
And yet.
I have been asked if I am: Lebanese, Polynesian, Native American, mixed African American, mixed Asian (most frequently Japanese), and also, oddly often, Welsh.
So, I usually answer “white” and if I’m not believed, screw ’em. If for some reason it’s something official and I get a surprised response, well, my Ancestry results do say I have a bit of Welsh in there, so I always vaguely suggest that maybe that percentage has an influence.
It’s really weird tbh. But I also legitimately love how I look, I’m sort of proud of my “American-ness,” and I think in the end we’re all going to end up being racially ambiguous anyway.
I am half white and half Indian, and there were quite a few times where people have thought I was Latino or Arab. In the days following 9/11, the latter assumption was not fun to deal with, as some kids were calling me “terrorist” or “Bin Laden’s” son, and they didn’t seem to accept when I corrected them. For the Latino assumption, I have been able to somewhat get away with it, as I am pretty fluent in Spanish, and in Latin America I’ve sometimes been able to blend in. There have also been other times where people thought I was fully Indian, and seemed to be in disbelief that I am half white.
As a latino-american, I get it from everywhere. Latinos from Latin America just see me as an American pretending to be them and my fellow Americans don’t really see me as “American” sometimes. But I grew up on rice, beans and plantains, not casserole, steak, and mashed potatoes, I am Latino, and I pledged my allegiance to the flag and grew up on wrestling and action movies, I am American too. I’m both and no one can take my lived experience as both away.
When I took standardized tests in Elementary school, I didn’t even think I could check the “Asian” box with the “White/Caucasian” box…
Other than food and some methods of disciplining (;-;), I wasn’t really raised with a lot of Filipino culture, so I don’t talk about it a lot. When I do, I always say my mom is Filipina, rather than myself, because folks look at me funny.
My sister is tanner than me, so a lot of people know she’s mixed, but most people think it’s Native American or Latina, so she’s a bit more open about it.
I am Mexican-American like many people in my city. I am very brown and for most Latinos they can see it without asking much questions. However everyone else thinks (and sometimes insist) I am Indian or Arab. The one time I got a haircut from a white woman, she kept asking if I for sure was Mexican and not Indian even though I have a very Spanish name. Even some Indians thought I was Indian, but most were able to tell that I wasn’t because of my hair and how I walk.
I’m pasty white and ethnically Hispanic.
99% of the time when it comes up that I don’t “look” Mexican all I have to do is explain that my *very* Mexican didn’t-even-speak-English-when-he-moved-to-the-US grandfather’s parents (my great grandparents, but easier to phrase it in the former) were originally from Spain.
It usually takes a few seconds for the gears to turn in people’s minds that Spanish folks are often blonde haired/blue eyed white people.
On the one or two occasions where someone couldn’t/wouldn’t believe my ethnicity is legit, I wasn’t going to waste my breath trying to convince them as it wasn’t a big enough deal to make a fuss over.
Im Black and Italian and people typically just assume I’m a member of whatever Brown group happens to be nearby (Mexican, Indian, Dominican etc.)
Most people are normal about it. But racial ambiguity just makes some people go a little nuts for some reason. At this point I just laugh it off and remember that if I get a stupid reaction at least I have a funny story to tell my friends and family later.
I wouldn’t even consider them people at that point tbh, and once they get to that point, not even worth the effort to remember.
Eek I hate this kind of question because I have so much turmoil when it comes to my race/ethnicity. My dad was black/white mixed, think someone looking like Ice-T, and my mom is White white from the Midwest red hair blue eyes. I grew up around black and white family/family friends, and my mom put on all my school papers and gov’t work that I am Black, I grew up in a Malcom X and Black Panthers house. But I have white skin, dark blue/gray eyes, born with blonde curly hair. My mom said black grannies always knew I was mixed ever since I was born, and I know most people wouldn’t scoff at my dad when he says he’s black, not Puerto Rican or whatever they assume he is, but I don’t tell people unless they ask. I’ve been told some people think i’m half something racially ambigious. I don’t attend the African-American club on campus, I don’t apply to scholarships meant for Black students, but if there’s an option to select more than one race I’ll say I’m Black and White, or Mixed. If I have to pick one I say I’d rather not say. Its hard. I have people telling me I’m Black, but I am white. But the English prince’s wife is too mixed for their liking, so I guess I would be too. Idk.
Racial politics in campus are kinda insane. You didn’t do anything, tune it out.
I generally skip that box entirely
I respond by pulling out the picture of my parents with myself and my siblings in my wallet, rattling off the state in Mexico they’re from, and telling them my Neice’s names. It’s something I’ve always dealt with, I used to get so angry about it. It was always other Mexicans too. “I’m sorry, Señora, that I don’t act Mexican enough” is a phrase I’ve had to say totally unironically.
So I’m Puerto Rican, but i don’t “look like one”, meaning I don’t look like a stereotypical Latina or caribeña. I think I’d just explain that Hispanics come in different shades and go on with my day
People never know what I am (I am mixed) and people never know what my parents are either (they’re mono for the most part). I think it’s embarrassing and boorish when people like to make a guessing game out of other people’s faces. Like you gonna be proud if you’re correct? The hell is wrong with you.
What is the other half?
I wouldn’t worry about. People judge with their eyes and get things wrong a lot. There’s no point in spending time to convince everyone. Let it go and just move on.
Maybe speak to them in tagalog or ilocano, if you can.
My husband on his dad’s side are members of a Native American tribe. They don’t all look stereotypically Native American at this point. My husband’s family are actively involved with their tribe not just claiming some vague native ancestry. I don’t know if people have cringed. I think people have been surprised or minimized it. Sometimes people think my husband is from another country.
My husband is half Filipino too, he gets asked if he’s Latino a lot. He just shakes his head corrects them and moves on
Kinda related, but I was always mistaken not for how looked but how I acted. I grew up in a shitty neighborhood. I’m dark skinned hispanic. I was in AP classes, made good grades, and didn’t “act ghetto”. Back then, lower class hispanic / chicano culture had kind of a culture of “proud to be ignorant” around it. Because of my dark skin, AP classes, and the fact I didn’t go around acting like a wanna be gangster, people often thought I was Indian or Middle Eastern.
For the most part I didn’t care because the people making this mistake were losers anyway.
I’m white but was mistaken easily as an indigenous person growing up, it was always really awkward when I was like: nope!! But my ancestors also got colonized by the same people so I devote my time to try and make my country a better place in the kindest way possible
My favorite question (after they’ve been mumbling and pointing at me) is “What *are* you?” Bc I’m like— a fucking dog. What do you think? Lmao
I’m black and white but frequently get asked if I’m hispanic or Indian. My sister who’s lighter gets asked if she’s Indian/Turkish/Chinese all the time.
It’s interesting, but I’ll gladly blend in with whoever gives me the most food.
I think it’s cringy that we’ve divided ourselves by racial identity so much and are gatekeeping each others experience and identity. So many people are fighting to be the most oppressed minority to the point where they are the privileged. Your instructor deserves to be fired.
I am Cuban and white. I really dont look all that really look that different from other Cubans. But I been told by a lot of Americans that I “Dont look Cuban” as if we all looked the same. America loves to think its the only country with ethnic diversity.
My response to it is “And what do you think I am SUPPOSED to look like?” The funniest answer is “Brown skinned, curly hair and a big butt” haha
I’m Korean-American on both sides. My skin is pretty dark/tan, which I got from my dad. I personally have never been mistaken for not Asian, but my dad has been mistaken for Mexican a few times. He just corrects them, and I’d probably do the same if it happened to me.
All through my schooling, lots of people thought I was Jewish, including a good amount of Jewish people. I’m half Irish quarter Dutch quarter Scottish. Beats me.
I’m half-white and half-mexican, but I look like a normal white guy, so everybody thinks I’m just white. For the longest time, I had felt completely disconnected from Mexico and its culture, so I was okay with just being considered white even though I always wanted to be more “Mexican” than I was. But a few years ago, I lost my dad (my mexican parent) suddenly. After realizing that you can lose anyone at any moment, I had started to connect with my Mexican family by visiting them yearly (last time I went to Mexico I was a baby) and I have really increased the amount of spanish I know. So I feel more “Mexican” than I use to.
My true ethnicity has never really been doubted by anyone, but I do get a lot of “How do you know Spanish?” by hispanics (mostly Mexicans) and it surprises them when I tell them I’m half-mexican so I learned it from my dad and my family. The funny thing is that in some parts of Mexico you’ll find many hispanic güeros like me so it shouldn’t be too surprising. Even some of my relatives in Mexico have a fair skin tone like me.
To answer your question, I have so much evidence that proves my heritage that there is really no debate. Even my first and last name are hispanic (but not the name I use). So if anyone wanted to be an asshole and doubt a part of my ethnicity, I’d just say “¡Chinga tu madre cabrón! Jajaja”