Reply to Why do people asked me where I am from if they don't believe me?

Forum Index » Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)

Reply to "Why do people asked me where I am from if they don't believe me?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm white and have had white friends ask me where my family is originally from. I truly don't know (British? German?) but it has sparked interesting conversations. I liked hearing about my friend's family being Scandinavian and how her region all immigrated to a small town in Wisconsin. This isn't just something that white people ask brown people. I've lived overseas and travel a lot. I'd love to hear about where your family is from in Cambodia or India. [/quote]

It's true that people do sometimes ask white people where their families are from.  But the conversation will go something like this:

White person 1: "Where are you from?"
White person 2: "Wisconsin."
White person 1: "I know a lot of Scandinavian immigrants settled in Wisconsin.  Does your family have Scandinavian heritage, too?"
White person 2: "I don't know.  But our next-door neighbor sure loved her some lutefisk!"

They do not go like this:

White person: "Where are you from?"
Not-white person: "Wisconsin."
White person: "But where are you [i]really [/i]from?"
Not-white person: "Wisconsin."
White person: "But where are you from [i]originally[/i]?"  
Not-white person: "Wisconsin.  I was born in Milwaukee."

It's not just asking "where are you from" or asking where someone's family is from originally.  It's the pushing back on the idea that a non-white person must really be from somewhere else.   It just astounds me that people refuse to understand the difference or accept that it can be offensive.  It's not offensive to you, white American person, because no one ever suggests that you aren't really from the US.

If you want to ask someone about their family history and heritage, ask them.  Just don't ask them in a way that implies that they aren't really from the US after they tell you that they are.[/quote]

I ines pushing the notion that “Non White poor conversationalist” is “not American” but you and your cynical semantics. Do you really go through life thinking the worst of everything someone says no matter how being.  How twisted.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics