Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did see a Filipino lady give a Hispanic woman the death stare when she spoke completely in Spanish to her

lol.. Some of them do look Hispanic. I grew up in SoCal with many of them, and of course, many have Spanish blood (and last names). I dated a Filipino a long time ago.

My sister gets mistaken for Hispanic or Filipino sometimes; she has darker skin and features that look more Filipino rather than east Asian.

I get mistaken for all manner of different Asian ethnicities. Other Asians come up to me and speak to me in their native language all the time, from when I was in college (a professor) to recently when I was in an Asian grocery store. Some lady kept looking at me, and then finally got up the nerve to ask me something in her native tongue. I think she was trying to figure out if I was the same ethnicity as her.

I don't get offended. Even people of my own ethnicity don't realize I am of that ethnicity and speak about me right in front of me in that language. I get a kick out of making a comment in English to them about what they were saying.

My favorite thing to do, in that situation, is to respond in their (our) language! Shocks them every time.

Anonymous wrote:The fact they are verbally guessing your nationality/race is rude and offensive.

It’s unfortunate that so many Americans think life is a game, & you win by how many times you claim to have been offended or a victim.

If that offended me I’d constantly be offended. I’m a mutt, all 4 grandparents (or their parents) were immigrants from different places, and DH is also an immigrant. My kid has 4 citizenships.
I have more important things to worry about. I figure most people are just making conversation.

I usually correctly guess people race and nationalities but was fooled recently. I speak Chinese and heard two people speaking Chinese. I asked which province they were from, and they responded that they were actually South Korean but met at university in China.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No I don't get offended. I'm from the UK but when I lived in Bethesda often people thought I was Scandinavian which surprised me. Then I did my DNA and it turns out that I am 35% Scandinavian. So there's that.

If you're from the British Isles you are definitely part Scandinavian. Because history, just sayin.

haha.. not necessarily. The vikings didn't conquer all of the British Isles.

Anonymous wrote:I had a coworker who was very upset if people thought she was Chinese, because she was Taiwanese

TBF, Taiwanese are ethnic Chinese.

Anonymous wrote:People keep asking me if I'm Irish, and I don't know why. I do have big blue eyes, and I guess that's why. I am far from Irish, lol. Why would I get offended? I've had some pleasant chats with people around the subject.

? lots of Europeans have blue eyes. Those people are idiots.

Anonymous wrote:I did see a Filipino lady give a Hispanic woman the death stare when she spoke completely in Spanish to her

lol.. Some of them do look Hispanic. I grew up in SoCal with many of them, and of course, many have Spanish blood (and last names). I dated a Filipino a long time ago.

My sister gets mistaken for Hispanic or Filipino sometimes; she has darker skin and features that look more Filipino rather than east Asian.

I get mistaken for all manner of different Asian ethnicities. Other Asians come up to me and speak to me in their native language all the time, from when I was in college (a professor) to recently when I was in an Asian grocery store. Some lady kept looking at me, and then finally got up the nerve to ask me something in her native tongue. I think she was trying to figure out if I was the same ethnicity as her.

I don't get offended. Even people of my own ethnicity don't realize I am of that ethnicity and speak about me right in front of me in that language. I get a kick out of making a comment in English to them about what they were saying.

Nationality is citizenship, not what race or ethnicity you are. Do you generally get a lot of Americans trying to determine whether you’re a fellow American or are they talking about your race or ethnic background?

A friend of mine has a very ambiguous racially look. And when I'm out with her, it is amazing how many different nationalities of people come up to her and speak in their language to her assuming she can speak it. She just smiles and lets them know she does not speak the language.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people get so offended at everything now?! I’m Middle Eastern but I get everything from Spanish to Brazilian, Venezuelan, French, Italian , …
It’s fun and I laugh it off. What’s the big deal?

You do you

Don't worry about the rest of us, or I'll start making assumptions about you that have nothing to do with your ethnicity.

Why do people get so offended at everything now?! I’m Middle Eastern but I get everything from Spanish to Brazilian, Venezuelan, French, Italian , …
It’s fun and I laugh it off. What’s the big deal?

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. Now people are getting mad at guesses? People can’t say anything these days. Calm down.

There’s a movement of people saying that this type of thing is a micro aggression. I guarantee the vast majority of people don’t care. It’s the small but loud minority who want to make everything and issue who are causing all the drama.

Who cares. Now people are getting mad at guesses? People can’t say anything these days. Calm down.

Anonymous wrote:People used to always assume I was Jewish because my last name is one that in certain circles is nearly always Jewish but in my case is not. It didn't bother me, I just corrected them if I felt like it. Sometimes it was helpful...my first job out of college was at firm where all the top leadership was Jewish. Did their assumption help me in the recruiting process? No idea but it wouldn't have hurt. Also, when my non-Jewish friend married a Jewish man, his mother was pretty upset about the wedding. On the wedding day she asked me to be her MILs helper/handler for the day. I could tell MIL assumed I was Jewish and liked that her DIL at least had one Jewish friend. So, I did not correct that impression!

When I married I took my husband's name and moved my maiden name to the middle. I hadn't realized how often the Jewish question came up until people stopped making that assumption.

I have a very similar story - “Jewish” last name but not Jewish, had people assume I was most of my life especially during college when I went to a school with a large Jewish population. I’ve always felt a kinship with the Jewish people and now my husband is Jewish, and we are raising our kids Jewish.
I’m actually Latina but no one ever thinks that and they assume I’m non-Hispanic white. I do look more Latina than my mom and my grandmother (who is from Latin America) but I look “white enough to pass” and it never occurred to me to bring up my ancestry in conversation unless someone asked.