Reply to Kind of Felt Uncomfortable Because of My Ethnicity On a Tour

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've been in company with a friend who is originally from South Africa and is a naturalized US Citizen.  She doesn't have much accent anymore, but she is an immigrant.  She knows more about her cultural heritage than I do about mine.  And yet, if we're together, people will ask me those types of questions but not her.  You don't treat someone who was born and raised outside the US as a foreigner, but you do treat someone who was born and raised inside the US as one, just because of my Asian features.

While you may be just curious and want to learn, read my last line above again.  What you are doing is, regardless of how I answer, you will segregate me because of my race, categorize me as "Chinese" and ask me questions about it and assume that I know more about that background to teach you about it.  You are saying that what I am is more important than who I am.  Whether you mean to or not, that is what you are saying to me.[/quote]

This is so clearly stated. Unless they're going up to every new parent and asking, "Where are you from?" it is an incredibly biased and uncomfortable situation.  Let's be honest.  No one was going up to the White families asking that, were they?  It's assumed they're from the USA.

I used to ask people with accents where they were from.  A friend mentioned how annoying she thought it was so I stopped, and upon reflecting I can see why it's annoying.  I wait until I'm friendly with the person and it comes up naturally.  If I'm never going to be friends with the person then it's none of my business.[/quote]

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