I (18f) and my friends (17fs) were sitting at lunch today and talking and she said something that I can’t tell should bother me or not. I am bi-ethnic , my mother is Ethiopian and my father is African American , I had a falling out with my AA side of the family after my father left and so haven’t been very close to them since I was younger so even though when I was younger I had more of the culture influence in my life , as I got older I became a little less familiar with it. So as the years gone by I’ve had more and more majority influence from the Ethiopian side of the family and community and I think because I can “pass” (I look kinda pretty Ethiopian , not a case of skin tone) for the most part people can’t usually tell I am half.
Anyway I have some friends that are also Ethiopian and one of them we’ve been friends since middle school , now this is where I can’t figure out if I’m just being sensitive about something I have started myself , we always talk about stuff we have in common culture wise like our favorite foods or culture day , and she obviously knows I’m half, so once I’ve made a joke that I’m a “halfsie” or such as I way to poke fun at myself when it comes to cultural differences and such and it’s never been a problem or anything (maybe I have a habit of downing myself to make others laugh)
But anyway today my friend was showing our group a picture of Ethiopian food that her cousins made , I jokingly speed her where they lived s I could get some . And she replied “No because they wont let mixed breeds in “
She’s never said anything like that before , and I was a bit taken a back, I guess she said it in a joking way and I laughed it off but idk it just made me feel a little sad, but I make those jokes about myself so maybe I’m kinda asking for it ? I’m not sure if I’m allowed to be offended at this or how I should proceed , I just feel a bit lost ?
TL;DR: My friend made a comment about me being “ a mixed breed “ because of me being bi-ethnic and I’m not sure how to feel about it.