Reply to Is there a non-offensive way to ask where someone’s ancestors are from?

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm a (white) kid of immigrant parents and people ask my mom ALL the time where she is from. (My Dad had a British accent so he got asked less often, but still occasionally). My Mom is German, and after 50 years of living in the US it's changed enough that it's still a heavy accent but not as obviously German. She doesn't find it offensive, though she is sometimes a little embarrassed that her accent is still so strong.

That said, I think it's easy to be blasé about it when you are white. So I do try to be sensitive about asking people about their background. There's no need to ask an acquaintance, but if you develop a friendship you'll figure it out eventually. It usually comes up at naturally as you get to know people and then you don't need to ask. It will come up in the context of where they're spending vacation (visiting grandparents), or holiday traditions, or sharing a favorite recipe, or some geography project at school where the kids talk about their backgrounds. [/quote]

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