Have you ever been mistaken for another race, ethnicity?

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ItalianStallion1119
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18 Aug 2012, 1:14 am

Haha yep...I am Italian but I have pretty tan skin...couple that with a lot of facial hair, I have been viewed as a Mexican, Cuban, Filipino, and even African-American.



TE4751
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18 Aug 2012, 11:52 am

I've been mistaken for Russian by Russian immigrants here, although I am 1/4 Russian (Belorussian to be specific) and another 1/4 Polish by ancestry. A few people have said it's not just the Slavic facial features, but that I have the gait and countenance of a Russian. It's never happened to anyone else in my family, even the ones with more Slavic ancestry. Russian culture is more introverted than American, and smiling in public isn't normal-- so maybe its a combination of my shy and socially reticent nature combined with the 50% Slavic ancestry.

One time a walking on the street smoking a cigarette some started talking to me in Russian and I just looked at him puzzled; then in broken, heavily accented English he told me he needed a light and then said: "You do not speak Russian?! You are not Russian? How can you not be Russian?! You loooook so much Russian!" Then another time in a college class I arrived about 10 minutes early on the first day sat next to a girl who was speaking Russian to her friend seated on her other side, after class she approached me and asked if I was Russian, she said she thought I was listening in on their conversation, just pretending to be a non Russian-speaking American.

Funny thing is, at the time I didn't know much about Russia or have much interest in it, but since then, Russia has become one of my special interests/obsessions, and now I've learned to speak Russian pretty well. I don't speak it well enough to pass as native, but well enough that many Russians say they think I must be a native speaker of some other Slavic language.

I was also once thought to be Hispanic-- considering I'm tall, pale, blue eyed and light brown haired I dunno how that works.

A few times I've been thought Jewish because my Slavic surname looks Jewish to many Americans, and a few times because I knew so much about Jewish topics and can even speak a bit of Hebrew (the history of the Jewish people is a special interest of mine). OTOH another time, at a Jewish acquaintance's wedding, where the attendees were probably 90% Jewish or so, I was asked, "you're not Jewish are you?" by a woman there. I asked how she knew and she said I "didn't look Jewish."

Not an ethnicity, though often carrying certain ethnic connotations-- but some people have also assumed I must be Catholic when I revealed an immense knowledge of the history, practice and ecclesiastic procedures of the Roman Catholic Church (another special interest).

Once I someone said I look Italian, no idea why.

Once an English person said he was shocked to find I'm less than 1/4 English by ancestry since I looked "so English."

Several times I've been told I look like I'm a European (from Europe) though I'm born and bred in America. One time it was because I was smoking a pipe, which is not common for twenty-somethings in America (though I don't believe it really is in Europe either). Another time at a party someone told me they thought I looked like I was from Europe-- I think it may have been because I was being such a wallflower that they thought I didn't speak English well. Another time I was eating a croissant and drinking coffee while smoking my pipe on my college campus. Someone approached me and said they thought I was European because the pipe-coffee-croissant combo and "the way" I was eating/drinking seemed "so European."

When I actually was in Europe (Austria) for two weeks, people never seemed to think I was American 'til I opened my mouth and revealed poor German language skills. My family joked that I would be easily picked out as American since I didn't try to wear "more European" clothes and even kept wearing my Baltimore Orioles cap, but the opposite. Several acquaintances also said they tried to dress "more European" when in Europe so as not to be too conspicuously American, yet were still usually picked out as American tourists very easily.

So maybe one's introverted nature can make one seem less conspicuously foreign when in a country with a more introverted culture; and the same introverted nature combined with one's personal eccentricities can make one seem a foreigner in his own country.



beneficii
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18 Aug 2012, 1:37 pm

TE,

Very much so, I think, in terms of appearance, because with Americans people generally expect the ugly American stereotype: they expect you to be loud, combative, and sloppy. When you don't fit it, you come off much less conspicuously. I suspect many American Aspies often do not come across as Americans.



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18 Aug 2012, 2:44 pm

People in Europe thought I was French.


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19 Aug 2012, 3:22 am

I look just plain white to most people. Don't realize I might be anything else until they hear my last name. People are often surprised when they see me with my darker-skinned, obviously hispanic looking father or sisters.

If you see me with the white side of my family, it's obvious that I'm mixed. My features mostly match theirs, but I've got brown/hazelish eyes while they all have blue, and my skin is a few shades darker. When not comparing me to them though, I don't look like anything but generic white.

So, no, I guess people don't really mistake me for an ethnicity that I'm not. But some have been surprised to find out that that's not my only ethnicity.


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19 Aug 2012, 11:02 pm

I've had people tell me that I look like I'm from England. I've also had many people mistake me as a Londoner.


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19 Aug 2012, 11:20 pm

No...it's very clear I'm English...in fact many have also guessed I'm part German and have a little Scottish blood in me too.

I've mistaken others before though, I'm terrible with medium skin tones - a classic example was with my first boyfriend, we'd been dating a few months before I realised he was Indian...and that was only after seeing photos of his cousins in Indian dress and hearing his sisters names.


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22 Aug 2012, 4:09 pm

Because I don't talk very much, people often assume I'm from France or Poland and that I'm incapable of speaking English.



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23 Aug 2012, 2:11 am

all the time. so far i have had:
afghan
iraqi
iranian
french
italian
aboriginal
indian
spanish
latin american in general
european in general
and the guy i hang with now thought i was half something but didnt say what.

i'm pretty sure people just randomly guess stuff based on nothing.



LonelyLoner
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28 Aug 2012, 5:52 pm

I've been told in America and Europe that I look Russian. Specially when I wear my blue eye contacts.

Can someone tell me what features Russians have??



SunTeufel
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29 Aug 2012, 6:01 pm

I'm white and have been mistaken for being black in the dark.



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29 Aug 2012, 6:04 pm

In Germany, some people thought I was Turkish. Most of them noticed that I wasn't though.


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29 Aug 2012, 7:13 pm

I'm a halfginger, and for some reason people have mistaken me for being Turkish. Apparently the Kurdish Turks have a bunch of gingers.



IrishTusk
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31 Aug 2012, 6:47 pm

My picture is in my Avatar, As you see I just look white European. Thing is I've a extremely thick Irish accent, Thick even by northern Irish standards. Yet I swear so god I've been asked if am these nationalitys by customers.

German
Russian
Polish
South African
Austrailian
American
Welsh


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Teredia
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01 Sep 2012, 2:16 am

I get mistook for American, cause of how a pronounce my R's in words but mainly German, because my Son is German. Im Aussie.



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01 Sep 2012, 5:58 pm

I've been mistaken for being a "black Asian" sooooo many times I lost count. It's mostly because of my eyes.


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