this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
103 points (85.5% liked)

Asklemmy

43945 readers
1063 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Cloak@lemmy.ml
mekhos@lemmy.ml
tmpod@lemmy.pt
14specks@lemmy.ml
103
Why do people keep asking where I'm from? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Shampoo_Bottle@lemmy.ca to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
114 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Up until I started working, I didn't really encounter that question. When I did start working, people started asking me that question.

Them: Where are you from?

Me: Canada.

Them: Where are your grandparents from?

Me: Canada.

Them: Ok, where are your great grandparents from?

Me: Canada.

It's irritating sometimes. I just want to exist, do my job and go home, like anyone else. Once is ok, twice is odd, three times is weird, and the fourth time is a pattern.

The only accent that I might have would probably be from Newfoundland, Canada, as I grew up with a lot of people from there. I also talk too fast sometimes.

Have you had similar experiences, and if so, how did you handle it? Can fast speech patterns cause this? Why do random people care so much?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] yenahmik@lemmy.world 91 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Asking where you are from is pretty normal conversation, especially if you have a noticeable accent. Asking where your parents/grandparents/etc are from is less common. Are you by chance not-white? Sometimes these sorts of questions have a race element to them

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, asking where someone's from is completely normal but asking where their parents/family is from automatically sets off some racism red flags

[–] Floufym@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Asking where someone’s from is already racist. As white, no one ask me where I am from, or only in late conversation for specific reason. My non-white wife get this question every single time she met a new person.

[–] Shampoo_Bottle@lemmy.ca 22 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I think I look pretty white, tbh

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 10 months ago

Well you either look or sound funny/different. I'd say since you get asked about grandparents etc it's not sound, so you don't look local Canadian.

[–] Kanzar@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

You say you look "pretty" white, that's like how "not really" isn't a "no".