What is up with the assumptions ... they piss me off!!!?

Question

Why does everyone always ask a latino person if they're from Mexico or Puerto Rico .... I never ask a black person if they're from America or Africa, never ask a White person if they're from Alabama or Idaho, never assume all Asian people are chinese ... what gives??? .... I'm from Ecuador and feel all latin people don't look alike, just, like all other races.

Answer 1

I'm sure most people don't mean to be so rude... some are just ignorant and some just curious.. Try not to take it so hard.. Think of this... correcting them is a polite way a young man from Ecuador can educate such people..

Answer 2

I didn't know how to ask where a person was from in conversation so I asked a few people for help and the best suggestion was to ask, "What's your ethnicity." Although I haven't had a chance to use it since I learned it, so I don't know how well it will work. I used to ask, "Where are you from," and some people would say the last USA city they lived in and I wasn't asking that question.

Really those questions are just trying to find out where you're from and nothing else. You're wasting perfectly good anger being pissed off about this kind of thing. If you alter your opinion, you'll be a happier person. All you have to do when you see the question coming at you is say, "Ecuador, I'm from Ecuador, South America." Repeating it will help their brain process the information and everyone can relax. After all it's hard to make new friends from people who you get infuriated being around.

I have noticed that people from different South American countries look different, but since I haven't had the luxury of travel to really learn who looks Peruvian and who looks Brazilian and who looks Ecuadorian, I'd have to ask. I think you have to have a good chunk of time in a place to know what the physical traits of a people are.

I once dated a guy from Ecuador who was Asian and had an Italian name! Talk about your world culture!

Peace.

Answer 3

Personally I always avoid the assumptions and just ask "Where are you from?"

However, while you are correct that there are noticable differences between people from different countries, consider that people are only good at identifying the differences that we are exposed to regularly... I was part of a sociology experiment back in college where we shown pictures of various people of Asian ancestry and ask to identify if we thought they were Chinese, Japanese, or a couple of other places I can't recall right now... guess what my score was? I got 1 out of 20 correct... I would have done better by guessing with my eyes closed!

I think I recall that a friend told me that there was a web site that has the same kind of test somewhere, if you want to try it...

At any rate, the experience showed me in no uncertain terms that I am better off assuming I DON"T know and asking.

Answer 4

Because Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are the most in/famous, so they have to assume you're from either of those places. People from Ecuador don't have as much presence (except for maybe Christina Aguilera) in the US as the other two nationalities.

Answer 5

My husbands family came here from Spain way back in the early 1600's. He inherited the dark skin and hair but was born in this country as was his parents and grandparents. Anyway they often walk up to him and ask if he speaks Spanish when the only language he knows is English although he learned some from living in Texas. He gets really angry. It's really not fair to him either. People assume too much.

Answer 6

You don't enen know who you are.
Latin: peoples somebody from ancient Latium: somebody who was born or lived in ancient Latium in western central Italy
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Answer 7

That's a good ????. Unfortunately, people do it all the time. Most people want to label everyone in a different category. It's bull $hit!
We are all human with feelings. It doesn't matter where we originated or what color our skin is. We all live and breathe!

Answer 8

don't be such a winer you know very damn well why people assume that it's because the vast majority of hipanics in the usa are mexicans so what if you are called mexican grow up and stop being such a tightass about stupid smal things like this

Answer 9

idk. the same reason anyone does anything that's rude and thoughtless. the same reason men oogle women while driving down the freeway, or shopping or eating, etc.

the same reason people cut cars off, or steal or cheat, or do anything else that's like i said, rude and thoughtless.

if i was to ask you about your ethnicity, instead of saying "are you from Mexico?" i might instead say "Where are you from?" which doesn't place you into any category, but instead allows you to place yourself in the category of where you came from ... does that make sense? to me that's nicer.

it's sort of like how people say that all Texans are hicks with accents and cowboy hats, riding horses around with lassos ... it's rude and sometimes they're stereotypes.

it's life, unfortunately.

Answer 10

I never ask people where they're from. I just figure if they want me to know or if they want to talk about it, they'll tell me. It's the same thing with people who don't have kids. I never ask them if they're going to have kids, or why haven't they had kids. It's not my business. If they want to tell me, fine. Otherwise, I really don't care.