Ethnic Stereotypes

I'm from Texas and we had some people come to visit our school, from South Dakota I believe, and they expected all of us to say y'all and ride a horse to school dress in cowboy boots and live on a farm.

I love this topic. I come from a white trash neighborhood. Like, literally trailer park trash. After my parents got divorced, we moved to Vancouver where my neighborhood was still completely white, but super classy. Then I moved again to live with my brother in Los Angeles, where I was suddenly overwhelmed with lots of different ethnicities and cultures. And they all say that I'm every white guy stereotype out there. I don't really know what they are and if it's a bad thing, but apparently I am most of them.

ignore.

I'm a ethnic mutt. Part Italian-Sicilian, part Native American and part German.
I live in Tennessee.
Common questions I get asked/statements people have made towards me in the past:

-Is your family in the mafia?

-Do you speak Italian?

-Were your ancestors nazi's?

-Are you white?

-Is your mom black? (gotta love this one. She's Italian-Sicilian, Native American and a small part German and she's very tan. She also has kinky, frizzy hair like some of my Sicilian relatives and the first thing people jump to is black.)

-Where are you from? (I don't have a very prominent Southern accent and I get asked this quite often. Mostly from people who live in more rural areas.)

-Do you have... "connections"? (dear god.)

I have also found that people find certain characteristics to be a instant indicator of a person's race.

In example:
people usually say my nose "looks Italian".
And my bone-structure is German, but my high cheekbones are Native American.
I have naturally very coarse hair, this is mostly due to my Sicilian background, but since my hair is platinum blonde, they usually assume my hair is "fried". It looks healthy, it is healthy, it feels coarse.

And because my mom has kinky, frizzy, coarse hair people assume she is bi-racial/black.. No offense people, but that is incredibly racist. As a cosmetology student, I can honestly tell you that there are some African-American girls who have extremely amazing hair. It's thick, it's soft, it's shiny.. It's beautiful.
That said, I have had clients who are 100% caucasion and have the nappiest hair ever.
Hair is not an indicator of race.
Cut it out. You sound dumb.

Another question I commonly get:

-Since your Italian.. are you really hairy?

This one cracks me up. Mostly because it's actually kinda true, hah.
I do have a lot of body hair and most of my family does as well.
I have to wax. A lot. I wax my arms.
It doesn't bother me. :)

I just love this post though. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who gets asked hilarious stereotypical questions. :)

I'm from Brazil and it's frustrating how people think I
- am a hooker
- am stupid (this makes me laugh so hard)
- only listen to samba and/or funk (i get so mad I want to punch the person)
- am poor
- live in the middle of the jungle (LMAO)
- have an awesome body and an even more awesome tan because of all the time I spend on the beach. (yeah, right)

Let me say something: I'm extremely short (1,50m), extremely pale, shy, I listen mostly to rock music, I HATE having any kind of intimacy with strangers (kissing, hugging, etc). I guess I am smart, otherwise I wouldn't be studying Mechanical Engineering and I wouldn't have good grades. I'm not poor - not rich, just as normal as any other girl. I live in a city and, obviously, have internet and all the comfort I need. And I don't have an awesome tan (I don't even live NEAR a beach!) nor an awesome body. Maybe a pretty one, but nothing special.

I'm from Portugal and here's what people think when they learn where I'm from:

So you speak Spanish?
Are you very poor?
Do you live in a farm?
Are you lazy?
And, my personal favorite,
Where is Portugal?

I am a Korean-born American and people always ask me if I'm Chinese. Grr.

Not that I don't like Chinese people, it's just that I don't believe all Asians are the same and that it's a foolish (and infuriating) assumption to automatically think someone who's Asian is from China.

No.

Just no.

@ kim myungsoo
That pisses me off so much. There was a Korean boy in my school and people kept trying to speak Chinese, like ni hao and xie xie to him and go like how do you say this and that in Chinese?

@Soy un Dorito!

THANK YOU somebody shares my feelings.

I just think that since I live in a predominantly white community, people aren't submerged so much in other cultures and simple ignorance is the reason why people assume that you are something you're not. It just bothers me a bit.

I'm half Russian and half German.

I get asked if I love vodka and beer because of my ethnic backgrounds. And I have to admit, I am a vodka and beer drinker. Just not momentarily.

I'm not sure if this is considered an ethnic stereotype or not, but it is common around here. Detroit is one of the neighboring cities around where I live. So I'm often asked by people who aren't from Michigan whatsoever if I'm a gang member, or if I killed anyone before because of the Dirty D's nasty reputation. People are under the assumption that I'm violent because of where I'm from. When in reality, I'm this incredibly short, 7-month-pregnant 18 year old. The only thing I'm capable of is hugging someone to death.

But I will say this about Detroit, Dearborn, Inkster, or really any city in the US:
You never want to walk alone at night. It isn't safe. Because I can't drive, I often have to walk everywhere. I eventually ended up having to carry a blade on me after a certain incident happening in 2009. :x

I'm from Essex in England and I moved to Norwich (in Norfolk) for university and The Only Way Is Essex tv show has people thinking that I'm slutty, ditzy and stupid.

And the whole thing with people thinking that either:
Every English person is charming, polite, have bad teeth and constantly have tea parties or all that all the kids are hooded delinquents that will stab you straight in the face.

We're not all Hugh Grant as the character he played in Notting Hill.
And I've only met one person with bad teeth and that's because he's afraid of the dentist. People usually don't have teeth issues in this country because dental services are free for children under 19.
I have never been to and have never heard of anyone going to a tea party, I've only ever seen two people eating scones and that was the same occasion. And I've never seen anyone eat scones and have tea at the same time.

And contrary to popular belief we don't get free medication, I am a 21 year old university student and I have to pay £7.15 each for my three prescribed medications (the contraceptive pill is free).

When people assume I'm intelligent because I'm part Japanese.

People have also been shocked nearly to the point of disbelief when they hear I was born in California. Since all 'California girls' are really tanned and have blonde hair and blue eyes.

I'm from south africa... This might sound racist but many people from overseas are under the impression that there are only black people over here. My friend went to Turkey and they just wouldn't believe she was south african. They were like "no... You aren't black." So ya... I blame the news :l

Scottish people aren't English.
We also don't always wear kilts.
Nor do we chase Haggis around the Highlands.
We're not all violent, Glasgow was voted the friendliest city y'know.
We also aren't always red-haired and it's typical to be bullied for being ginger.

Russian. I'm part Russian and visit there a lot. Apparently to most of my friends in school Russians are violent, vodka-drinking, depressed people that are always blood covered and speak in "hyevee awesyetz".

German. There's a lot of questions I get:
-Why don't you have blue eyes, too? (I have green eyes and the stereotypical "German-blonde" hair)
-Do you know Hitler? (Uh... dude. I was born in 2000)
-Do you hate Jewish people? (I've surprisingly never met anyone that's Jewish. At least, not openly Jewish.)
-Do you speak German? (I wish)
-Do you side with Hitler? (The only thing I side with Hitler about is this. )

And then... Italian..... oh God.
I frequently get asked if anyone I know is in the Mafia. Which weirdly, I do. I have relatives in the Mafia. But I refuse to let people that ask me know that. And second is if I'm Catholic. Which, personally, I'm not very religious, but I guess I am since I believe in the Saints...

The Real Mitt Romney:

I'm American, so I'm a fatass redneck who eats McDonald's everyday. I'm also stupid and racist, and I hate everyone from the middle east. I also find comedy such as Larry The Cable Guy to be amusing. I drive around in my truck while eating a Big Mac and waving around my confederate flag.

You just described my brother. Though he isn't fat, but all of that applied to him.

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I'm from Texas so I must ride a horse to school, wear cowboy hats and wrestle with cows. Also I must live in the desert in the middle of no where.

Someone asked me if I rode a horse to school before. No. I drive a vehicle. A minivan to be exact.

I'm from Irish decent so I must drink lots and lots of beer. I have red hair, freckles and have a sexy accent. I come from such a poor neighbor hood that we can't afford a roof. Oh and I must be the town drunk in America.

No. Just no.

When I was a little girl, I was playing in Mcdonalds with a blonde girl. As we ventured in the tunnels, the girl asked me if I spoke Spanish, I said no, she then asked me if my mom spoke Spanish, I said no. Her question was, "then why do you have black hair?" This made me so mad as a five year old not only from her obvious even for a little kid ignorance, but the fact that our hair was brown. I've also been mistaken for Asian, I guess it's the fair skin and the almond eyes.

A lot of people ask me if I crossed the border illegally, even though I've been a US citizen ever since birth despite my having been born in another country. And despite the fact that not all latin american countries are even near the US.

Then of course, there's the stereotype that all latinos are unintelligent and slutty. A lot of people tend to fetishize Latinas and I think it's disgusting and insulting. That all Latina women are curvy women who do porn videos online and get pregnant at sixteen. And I know plenty of bright, intellectual Latinos.

Also, people tend to not realize that not all of them are dark-skinned and have black hair. Many of them have fair skin and light brown hair.

Norwegians are always big/tall, blonde, pale ("soaked in bleach"), eat lutefisk and lefse, are passive-aggressive, like to drink, have no sense of humor, and speak with a funny accent that involves pronouncing W's like V's (actually, they say ish da and fi da, meaning something's bad). These stereotypes aren't that bad, and they're often true; for my family, at least.

little motorkitty;:

Scottish people aren't English.
We also don't always wear kilts.
Nor do we chase Haggis around the Highlands.
We're not all violent, Glasgow was voted the friendliest city y'know.
We also aren't always red-haired and it's typical to be bullied for being ginger.

This. Also:

Scottish people do not know every single other Scottish person in the universe.
We don't eat haggis every day, nor is it a requirement to like it (I hate haggis).
We don't constantly wear tartan (this goes for hats, scarves and any other silly stereotype).
We don't live in the highlands in little shacks (someone once told me they were surprised that we had cities...eh?)
We don't all play the bagpipes.

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My dad was born in Singapore, and the moment I tell people this, I get the "oh, your eyes do look really Asian!" Uh, no. They don't.