Have you ever been mistaken for another race, ethnicity?

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teamnoir
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
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02 Jul 2012, 6:14 pm

I've been mistaken for several things, but they were all white european.

I keep looking for a "look" for aspies, more in body postures or gestures than in genetics, but haven't found many other than the well known mannerisms. I don't think there are any other genetic distinctions - at least, not that have been scientifically identified.



man-hands
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12 Jul 2012, 6:46 am

Jewish people have msitaken me for being Jewish; Hispanic/Mexican people have mistaken me for being Mexican.
My ancestry is from every corner of Europe, but on mom's side there are Kalmyk-Mongolians and some kind of middle-eastern-persian-gyspy thing. It's the faintly mideast-persian-gyspy in my appearance that gives people the impression I'm not "northern european". (though 90% or my genes are northern european)



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13 Jul 2012, 2:09 pm

I am Italian/German/Hungarian and get asked if I am Mexican when it is darker out (my hair looks black I guess). However, in the sun, if my hair grows out, I guess I have ginger in there or something, because then I am asked if I am Irish.

Fortunately, I rarely socialize, thus preventing these kinds of things from coming up very often.



rpcarnell
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13 Jul 2012, 8:26 pm

Same here. Just the other day someone thought I was a white person. Here in Panama, whites represent 10% of the country, and Asians represent 5%. I get mistaken for both all the time.


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Ai_Ling
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14 Jul 2012, 3:28 am

Ive been mistaken for Japanese many times, korean a few times. Im chinese. Of course Im not sure how much that counts for being mistaken for another race. Ive also been mistaken for being from Asia,(Im from US). But I dont think anybody would ever mistaken me for something that wasnt Asian. My features are pretty distinct.



TallyMan
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14 Jul 2012, 3:46 am

A few people think I've some little Chinese in me because of my eyes. That isn't me in my avatar by the way - it is actor Kim Chan.


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14 Jul 2012, 10:08 am

People never guess my ethnicity correctly. I'm South African with a bit of German and Dutch in me. Most of the time I get mistaken for being Indian, even Indian people think I'm Indian. I also get mistaken for being Aboriginal and Italian even.


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Wilma
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04 Aug 2012, 10:46 pm

No one can guess my ethnicity . I'm Greek but i have not the typical Greek or medditeranian characteristics . I'm have very pale skin green eyes and brown hair . So I'm mostly confused for Russian or Polish and sometimes German ( especially in the summer because I get blonde highlights from the sun) But when I get tann (it doesn't happens very often) its weird that some people think I'm mixed Latin or Native American ...but never Greek ...



Glorifel
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04 Aug 2012, 10:52 pm

People commonly think I am "Asian", Indian, or Middle Eastern. I am half Japanese, half Caucasian.



Morningstar
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05 Aug 2012, 12:39 am

Once a nurse was filling out an insurance sheet for me because she was nervous to get the line moving, and she voiced that I was "obviously white" and I was like >_> wtf

It's not entirely incorrect, but I NEVER mark that on demographic questionnaires because the option always reads "White, non-Hispanic" and that bothers me, because I am both.

It's funny because my brother has been mistaken for black...same two parents...

again_with_this wrote:
rpcarnell wrote:
During the course of my life, I have been mistaken for Asian more times than I can count, mainly because my eyes are almond shaped and really small, my face is broad, my cheekbones are high, and yes, my nose is small.

Thing is, no one in my family looks like that. My family is nothing but white hispanics, dark haired, white skin, narrow faces, and average-size noses. Is that an Aspie thing, or totally unrelated to autism, just genetics.


You probably show some latent Asiatic features from the indigenous tribes that mixed with the Spaniards. Most Hispanics tend to be mestizo, though the percentage varies.


One of my aunts is like this, too.



deltafunction
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05 Aug 2012, 8:27 am

My background is English and Scottish, but I get mistaken for Ukrainian a lot. Whenever ask me about my background, they will guess Ukrainian. I think it's because of my small round race.



Mindsigh
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07 Aug 2012, 4:02 pm

Nope. I'm just a plain ol' white American person. I don't even think I have any Native American in there. About the most exotic thing in my ancestry is Welsh.



ADoyle90815
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14 Aug 2012, 9:29 pm

I have brown eyes and dark brown hair, and while I've got Irish/English/German heritage, I've had to say, "No habla Espanol" several times at my last job because for some reason, my freckles aren't enough to convince some that I'm not Hispanic.



zxy8
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14 Aug 2012, 9:49 pm

I'm Australian, and some people think I am European. English and German were two. Also Swedish I think. It is probably because I am white with not much tan, and I have dyed blonde hair. Also I apparantly talk with an English accent. Sometimes I do it deliberately, but others times it seems I do it without knowing XD



Stalk
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15 Aug 2012, 5:51 am

Venger wrote:
I'm a white guy that's a bit hispanic looking(tan with black hair/brown eyes).

Same here



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15 Aug 2012, 6:10 am

I'm British but occasionally get assumed to be French when I say I'm studying French at university.Also when I was like twelve in a playground a bunch of less than pleasant NT kids started asking me questions,when I answered they all found my voice hilarious and assumed I was Russian.