David Cater

jessiegrebby:

I was at work the other day and had a man ask me where I was from.  He then quickly said, “let me guess”.  I stood there as he pondered and amused his mind.  He then started by saying, (not in a confidant tone) Polynesian.  I looked at him, with all the thoughts running through my mind of Columbus landing on the rock and betraying the Indians.  Then he said, “Um that country, What is it called?”  I couldnt take anymore and said Native American Indian! 

All of this. I remember when I was traveling with a friend we ran into this fellow at our hostel and decided to go for beers with him. He asked us where we were from and my friend answered “Canada.”

To clarify his point he said, “I mean where are you from originally?” because certainly from looking at us it wasn’t a sufficient enough answer.

I said, “You do realize that comes across as a rude question, right? What if I ask you the same question? And don’t say, ‘Just London,’ because you know that there is a lot of history that came before the conceptualization of England. My own family comes from a time far before Canada was even a speck of an idea.”

After that, he admitted he was actually of Scottish descent.

same thing happens to me too

or I will just get some full assumptions about my ethnicity

it’s not nice when people continuously ask you where you’re from or make assumptions about it - no at all people from one ethnicity have to look identical…perhaps I may look like a person you met from Peru or Mexico or Peurto Rico but that doesn’t mean that you can assume I am also from a specific area, especially not without somehow politely attempting to ask me where I’m from

sometimes I hate the reaction I receive when I tell others that I am Native - especially in Canada. It seems as though Native people are often seen as being the lowest ethnicity by a lot of Canadians - some people are comfortable with being my friend if they believe I’m Latina but when they find out that I’m a First Nations woman I often tend to lose a lot of friends or people tend to stop talking to me, etc

it’s not ok.

i’m american living in england and obviously my accent sticks out. i get asked where i’m from at least 6 times a day at my job. plus we get people from all over europe through our store, plus many travelers from asia. if they ask, i don’t care. i don’t ask where they’re from most of the time, unless they also sound american/canadian. unless someone is being rude about it, i’d just take it as honest curiosity and a bit of ignorance - which cannot be helped sometimes. we’re all human, it’s nice to have someone interested in learning more, isn’t it? 

I tend to ask this a lot by fellow Brits. Anyone that’s foreign recognises me as an Englishman and I usually tend to ask where they’re from because I’m curious to see how far they have ventured or whether they’re from a place I’d love to visit. But since 2002, a lot of people do not believe I am a born and bred Englishman; I get mistaken as an American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Dutch, out of the countries listed I’ve only ever been to one. I’ve never been offended by people thinking this, I find it funny. Especially when people assume that to be someone from Essex, you have to speak in a chav-like way. Just amazing how someone looks or speak is enough to assume you know someone’s nationality. If the concept of stereotyping and understanding of the different countries people came from was better taught in class, then maybe ignorance would decrease. But until then, we just have to stay being ourselves and remind ourselves of why we’re awesome because we’re unique enough to stand out in crowd without saying a word, that’s with anyone and everyone, no matter where you are.