"Are you mixed with [insert race(s) here]?"-- Do/would you get offended when/if people ask you this question?

Question

I'm just curious since I've heard people get offended when asked.

It has never bothered me. I usually just answer ''yes'', ''no'', ''not that I know of'', or whatever other answer may apply.

Answer 1

I am not offended generally, if it seems to be a matter of simple curiosity and is approached in a polite and friendly manner. Curiosity about and celebration of difference can be wonderful.

Of course, there are also rude ways of presenting the question, sometimes indicated by tone of voice and expression (and choice of words obviously), so it depends on the context.

I am annoyed by forms, especially government forms making such inquiries and by telephone surveys, particularly when they want a straitjacket classification that wants me to "choose one", though I also acknowledge that sometimes such things can serve a useful purpose.

Btw, RTD2 is spewing a mixture of dubious theological interpretations and a lot of pseudo-science that no biologist would take seriously.
Study the chart and you'll see a lot of variation and nothing like the simplistic view RTD2 presents.

Answer 2

No, not offended at all. I think it is all fascinating. Great topic.

RTD2, thank you! Your answer was so interesting and resonated a great deal with me. I always say I'm mostly German, but when my grandma died, we found out we had some Native American blood. Reading your post about type O blood taught me that my ancestors were indeed Native American. My grandma was black-haired with olive skin. I look like I'm 1/2 white and 1/2 something else. I have very dark brown eyes and light-to medium rosy beige skin. All this makes a lot more sense to me than thinking I'm just English, German and Dutch!

My children are biracial and they don't get offended either. People assume they are Hispanic usually...

ETA: Thank you, too, Gnu S...that was interesting to read.

Answer 3

I am about as mixed as it is possible to get; Polish, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Italian, Jewish are just some of my ancestors. I don't get offended at all if you ask.

Even though I am descended from so many different races I do not get asked. This is because I am not of mixed colour. I do wish people would learn to use the words race and colour properly.

Once I asked a friend what race I looked like and he said "European" which I thought was funny.

Answer 4

Well, in my situation....I'm mixed with cherokee indian and african-american. So I consider myself a black indian. My hair is several inches past my shoulder, thick and wavy. When I was a sophomore in high school, I had just gotten back from a science and technology camp and one of the girls in my class went crazy. "Oh my God, you must have indians in your family!" She asked, and the class was silent. On this particular day, I had my hair in two braids and tied them to the black with a bow. I said "yes, my parents are black cherokee indians." And then, that was the topic of interest for the whole class, the fact that I was Afro-Indian. The only time that I am offended is when I tell people that I am a Black Native American, and they snort "so you think you are better or something" or "if you have one drop of black blood, then you are black." (one drop theory)

Answer 5

I get this question a lot...on first glance I look hispanic but people start to notice tell-tales that show that I'm not completely hispanic. The skin tone is wrong and so are the eyes.
But I do have to laugh when people ask if I'm Russian...doens't bother me though

Answer 6

There are as the bible says 3 branches of mankind.
Japhetic which is the white race distinguished by the blood type A and other certain charistics paticular to that race.
light skin, blue eyes and sometimes impossible to tell if you are a mixture of other races.

Hamitic which is the black race distinguished by the blood type B and other certain charistics particular to that race.
such as dark skin, dark eyes and depending on where they live can be a combination of all the races.

Semitic which is the brown race distinguished by the blood type 0 and other certain charistics particular to that race.
Such as brown skin, maybe asian eyes or it is a combination of Asian and Native American and Mexican race.

So before you even say what race you are know you blood type, have a DNA to say how much of each race you have.
I have seen so many people who were shocked when they found out what their ancestors truly were.
One man hated blacks and he had AB blood type a mixture which most black men in America have.
That is why it is so foolish to be prejudice.
As I brought out one lady insisted she had no Indian ancestroy but was a pure bred German. She had type 0 blood and not one DNA point towards German. Maybe just enough English to make her white.
To find out your blood type if you don't know give a pint of blood. They will tell you for free.

Answer 7

Yes, I am mixed.
No, it does not offend me when people ask about it.

Why? I see people and get curious too. I do not mean for my curiosity to be offensive. I think it is a very natural thing and should not be discouraged as long as it is not rude and disrespectful.

Answer 8

i'm blended race and that i basically prefer to state some thing i dont be attentive to how the international and populations got here from.. yet i be attentive to while races combination then the guy who's the offspring will take on the characteristifcs. of the two.. i'm considered black.. yet i dont think of how blacks think of .l and that i dont act like them.. what i'm attempting to declare. the belief technique is now distinctive. the alertness and recommendations applications are distinctive.. so if somebody is clasiffied as black.. this does not propose he thinks like those in africa.. nor acts like them ok gilermo

Answer 9

I don't care when people ask, but i don't answer. I don't think its important, like if I tell you what I am mixed with are you gonna judge me even more? I get more annoyed than offened, I am so over that you know? I got a little bit of this and a little bit of that and I look more like this than that so what!?

Answer 10

I'm mixed (Hispanic and Black) and i get asked all the time by Hispanics if I speak Spanish or if I'm Dominican. But the problem i have is when people ask me if I'm mixed with white just because I'm a light skinned black man...not all light skinned blacks are mixed with white!