But you don't look....

[bex1218]

People that I have met in my life get a shock. I am half Puerto Rican. A lot of people go "But you don't look hispanic" Very well, I am also German, Irish and possibly Swiss French and British (The Puerto Rican side itself has so many different races and cultures, I don't even know where to begin with that). That would explain why I look more white than anything. All I get is a nice tan just by walking outside. It doesn't piss me off, but in this day and age one would think that there are so many mixes that no one looks the way others think they should be. Anyone else get this?

[HYHYBT]

Not on race, but I had a customer once insist I'm not really from around here because I don't have the right accent. Thank you, I believe I know where I've lived my entire life (so far).

[Andara Bledin]

I never got it about race, 'cause I'm a white girl and I've always looked like a white girl.

However, I'm also a hundred other things that people generally don't expect, one of which is that I'm a metal-head. I didn't look the part when I was still in high school and the older I get, the less I look it.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

A few weeks ago, we spent a week talking about sound design, foley, musical theatre, etc. So I brought a bunch of music to discussion section to talk about sound and memory and other random stuff. I played some Skrillex and Avicii while discussion how sound designers use music to create mood. One of my students looked at me for two minutes with her jaw wide open. I finally asked her, "Are you okay?" "You...you....You listen to Skrillex? Like, you had that on your IPod?" It blew her little college-aged mind that a graduate student listened to the same music she did.

[guywithashovel]

I don't get it on race or ethnicity. The ancestry that I know of is a mixture of German and Irish, and since I'm white and had reddish hair, people don't dispute that. I think there is also some Cherokee in my ancestry, but if it really is there as I am told, it's fairly far back.

Even if Puerto Ricans did have a definite "look," being part Puerto Rican wouldn't mean you had to have that "look," too. When I was in high school, a boy in my class was part Japanese. His grandparents on one side of the family were Japanese. He didn't look much like it. His skin was white. However, that was enough for him to qualify for Japanese-American scholarships.

[ngc_7331]

I'll never be mistaken for anything other than a German/Irish mix with a little Slovak mixed in too. Blond hair, blue eyes and so pale in the winter that I glow in the dark. But I do get the "You don't look your age." I'm 33 but I've been mistaken for early 20s. I've even had to pull out my driver's license to coworkers because they just could not believe I was really how old I said I was. It's good genes, I think, my mom looks in her early 40s and she's in her mid-50s.

[Greenday]

Well, it's just like you can't be African American if you aren't black. Even if you are white and descended from Africa, that doesn't count somehow.

[Slytovhand]

Well, it's just like you can't be African American if you aren't black. Even if you are white and descended from Africa, that doesn't count somehow.

You mean, like someone from South Africa???


Anyway, I don't get this (obviously), but in China, if you're white, you speak (good) English. If you're not white, you don't!!! I'm contemplating doing a Ph.D. research in that - judge local people's reactions to, firstly, audio, and then a few months later, the video of various people speaking in English. And, watch how the scores for ability plummet after seeing that Afro-American, or Chinese-Born Aussie speak in perfect English... or, seeing the scores go way up upon seeing the blonde, blue-eyed Swede or Russian...

(I might not be very popular here after this )

[KabeRinnaul]

Well, it's just like you can't be African American if you aren't black. Even if you are white and descended from Africa, that doesn't count somehow.

I recall hearing that Dave Matthews liked to joke that he was the only African-American in his band. Most of DMB's members have been black, but the white Matthews is the only member actually born in Africa.

[Racket_Man]

I sometimes get the exact oppsite here in my area.


My area has a LARGE Native American population (the local reservation is just inside/outside of town and a lot of the land surround the town is owned by Natives).

I am of pure European decent (German and Polish to be exact) yet even before I moved to my city permanently I got asked more than a few times "What Tribe are you???". and this was before I grew my hair long or got a bit of a tan.

[Sarah Valentine]

I've never had someone confused about my race, but ever since I've been working I've had people mistake (I really can't see how) me for a guy. 5 times in my first job, 2 in my temporary second.

[bex1218]

I get mistaken for a guy all the time. But its understandable, since I dress like one anyways. I even have a deeper voice than some girls.

[Lillfilly]

I've actually been asked what country I'm visiting from because I'm "too nice to be from around here!" Haha. Canada is the only place outside of the US I've ever been.

[Mishi]

I am of pure European decent (German and Polish to be exact) yet even before I moved to my city permanently I got asked more than a few times "What Tribe are you???".

I'm Danish, Scottish, Cornish and English with a dash of German and Spanish thrown into the mix. I'm pale with blue eyes and (normally) dark blonde hair, and I still have had random people ask "Which Mob you from?" or "What mix are you, you can't be just plain white!?" because my bio-siblings have olive skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Oh, and "Which part of Britain are you from? You still have your accent, but I can't quite place it." I have never been overseas!

@Bex: My eldest is mistaken for a boy on a semi-regular basis. Even when she's wearing a pink dress and has her hair up! It doesn't bother her, she just says "I know what I am and I'm happy with who I am. If I wasn't, then I'd change."

[BlaqueKatt]

A lot of people go "But you don't look hispanic" <snip> Anyone else get this?

yup* and my response is usually:

"Funny, you don't look stupid."




*I'm half Sicilian-if you actually know Sicilian history, I DO look Sicilian, Sicily had a very different background than Italy. Which is why Sicilians get very upset if you call them Italians.