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[movingforward]

Does anyone have any interesting experiences about being mistaken for a member of a different ethnicity?

I find it interesting that before 9/11, I was frequently asked by both my students and complete strangers in public, "Where are you from?" I would always say the name of the state where I have always lived. Most people would then say, "No. I mean where are your parents from." I respond with the same state name. Finally they would say, "No, I mean are you ....(insert ethnicity). I would finally say, "Nope! I'm a mutt! One grandfather's parents were from Germany and his wife's parents were from Poland. The other set of grandparents had parents from Scotland and France. Apparently this averages to ethnic."

I have been assumed to be Arabic, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Armenian,... On a number of occasions, people have started speaking to me in their native language, assuming I was also Arabic or Indian. The funny thing is, this never happened to my sister even though many people say we look alike.

Before 9/11 this would happen about 2-3 times a week, now it happens very rarely. Now, my students won't outright ask, but they spend the whole semester looking for little clues.

I think it was better when people were comfortable asking. I think we may have become too afraid to openly talk about ethnicity, culture, race and identity. When people don't talk, it makes it hard to discover and work through the differences in the way people perceive the world.

[mountain_ivy]

I'm so blandly Caucasian Amurcan that no one ever,ever,ever asks where I'm from....except occasionally when my suthn accent gets out front.

[jackofallchem]

People have often tried to discover where in the country I am from because my accent is apparently confusing for some reason.  Only a few times have I been asked about ethnicity.  I was once asked what tribe I belong to because, apparently, I sing with a Seminole accent.  Go figure (I'm not Seminole, by the way).

[mountain_ivy]

  I was once asked what tribe I belong to because, apparently, I sing with a Seminole accent.  Go figure (I'm not Seminole, by the way).

OK....What gives you away as  a singing Seminole?

[takapa]

A good friend from grad school gets this.  She's anglo.  I think her family is largely Irish/Welsh.  Honestly, when I met her I thought she was Hispanic.  Now she finds herself teaching at a school that has a large African American presence and several times students have remarked to her that she knows what they are going to "as a fellow black woman".  The first time this happend she didn't catch it quickly and then was confused as to whether it was being said in a serious or joking way.  Apparently, many of her students were under the impression that she is indeed African American and before she realized it that was the ethnicity that her students had assumed. 

As a blonde, blue eyed white guy I never get this....

[frack]

A kinda-sorta on-topic story from one of my older colleagues.

We teach at a small compass-point university in the mid-south. Many years ago, some of our faculty would travel to a satellite campus in a very small town with a long history of blatant racism -- black folks avoided the town for fear of being attacked by the Klan. My colleague is white; he would frequently travel to campus with a African-American mathematician. (To give you a sense of the atmosphere in the town, they once sat in a Pizza Inn for an hour before being served.)

Here's the on-topic part: the math instructor was very good and his students really liked him. But of course "blacks can't do math," so they decided this black man who also grew up in the mid south was an "Australian Aborigine!"

[locutus]

Here's the on-topic part: the math instructor was very good and his students really liked him. But of course "blacks can't do math," so they decided this black man who also grew up in the mid south was an "Australian Aborigine!"

heh, I've been there before.

"Are you mixed, maybe part white?"

"no"

"but you're so smart"

[smart_e_pantz]

Here's the on-topic part: the math instructor was very good and his students really liked him. But of course "blacks can't do math," so they decided this black man who also grew up in the mid south was an "Australian Aborigine!"

I teach statistics and get this s*** a lot.  I also write well and often teach the writing intensive designated courses.  At my last appointment, 2000 student SLAC (small not selective) with fewer than 20 black students, Asshat Dean tried to remove me from my statistics appointment because I was failing too many of their students who couldn't add.  When the vice-President of the college received my written response to this nonsense, he remarked to a colleague (the only other black faculty member in the entire college) that I write really well.  No s*** a**hole--I would hope the person you hired to teach the writing intensive section of the Intro course writes well!

[jobhuntress]

Yes. Well, not quite.

I have a culturally ambiguous surname - it has a lot of vowels and could legitimately be seen as a name of different origins, depending on your perspective. But b/c of the subject matter of my teaching and research (which deals with a particular part the world) students in particular will often just assume I'm simply 'from' there.

I actually don't mind as I find the implicit assumption can lend me automatic authority (something I'm still trying to work on projecting more). But I also find when it's revealed I'm not from 'there' really some students sort of feel betrayed (?) or a bit skeptical of me... It's not overt, subtle things like questioning me more, but it is curious...

[daurousseau]

Pass a bowl of your hair clippings around the class. Interested student can do their own research to determine your ethnicity.

[malvais]

You all might want to check out the other set of posts on the Question of Hiring and Ethnic Minority....

[hrvatski18]

I have a somewhat different situation.

People assume that I'm straight up white because I have light skin, blue eyes, and an Anglo-sounding name.   I am, however, Arab American.  My grandfather changed our family name to sound more American, and there are a lot of people with light skin and blue eyes in the region where my family originated.

Yet most people are shocked when I mention that I'm Arab American.   Not uncommon, in fact, for people to just downright refuse to believe me.  I have a colleague who has teased me for being "faux" Arab for years now.  I try to avoid him whenever possible.

[windchimes]

People assume that I'm straight up white because I have light skin, blue eyes, and an Anglo-sounding name.   I am, however, Arab American.  My grandfather changed our family name to sound more American, and there are a lot of people with light skin and blue eyes in the region where my family originated.

Yet most people are shocked when I mention that I'm Arab American.   Not uncommon, in fact, for people to just downright refuse to believe me.  I have a colleague who has teased me for being "faux" Arab for years now.  I try to avoid him whenever possible.

Maybe it has something to do with your family being European? Your handle "hrvatski" is pure Balkan-ese, perhaps you are of European muslim descent (perhaps from Croatia or Bosnia) but not an Arab?

And I would call you "faux" Arab too considering you don't look the part, you don't sound the part, and you are not "spelled" the part?

And why insistence on calling yourself "Arab American" when you are second generation American-born?

At what point in time -- you reckon -- would be appropriate for you to switch to being "just" an American?

[hrvatski18]

Maybe it has something to do with your family being European? Your handle "hrvatski" is pure Balkan-ese, perhaps you are of European muslim descent (perhaps from Croatia or Bosnia) but not an Arab?

And I would call you "faux" Arab too considering you don't look the part, you don't sound the part, and you are not "spelled" the part?

And why insistence on calling yourself "Arab American" when you are second generation American-born?

At what point in time -- you reckon -- would be appropriate for you to switch to being "just" an American?

My handle is just a handle.  I speak Croatian and lived in Croatia and Bosnia at one point, but otherwise have no connection to the Balkans and no family roots there.

I call myself Arab American because I grew up observing Arab customs, eating Arab food, listening to my elders speak Arabic, and because my cultural identity is important to me.    No different than my partner, whose great-grandparents are from Ireland, feels very strongly about his Irish American identity.   His family has certainly been here much longer than mine, but the Irishness is no less diminished. 

I don't like being called a "faux" Arab because it is important to recognize the great amount of diversity that exists within the Arab world.  I have Egyptian friends with blond hair, blue eyes, and lighter skin than mine.   There are others who look almost black.  Yet we're all still Arab.  We just don't resemble what people expect Arabs to look like.

[bachelor]

Maybe it has something to do with your family being European? Your handle "hrvatski" is pure Balkan-ese, perhaps you are of European muslim descent (perhaps from Croatia or Bosnia) but not an Arab?

And I would call you "faux" Arab too considering you don't look the part, you don't sound the part, and you are not "spelled" the part?

And why insistence on calling yourself "Arab American" when you are second generation American-born?

At what point in time -- you reckon -- would be appropriate for you to switch to being "just" an American?

How incredibly rude to call someone a faux [insert ethnicity]. I have been accused of being a phony because I have an American name, I speak American English and I have an ambiguous appearance. Just because someone doesn't "look the part" does not mean that they are any less attached to their ethnic identity. And I think it is arrogant to think that people lose their heritage when they don't look a certain way or sound a certain way. This discounts their life experiences as hrvatski18 mentioned that hu grew up with Arab customs, etc. As a person of mixed heritage, I resent the idea that one's physicality determines one's identity, when it does not.

I think it is appropriate for hrvatski18 to identity as an American , as Arab-american, or however else hu wants. People self-identify. Windchimes doesn't have to right to question one's personal identity especially when they know nothing about this person. Self identification overrules how others identify that person.