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Vent: It gets quite frustrating traveling as a nonwhite american. (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by CanalBloody@alien.top to c/digitalnomad@expats.zone

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Tired of constantly having conversations like this:

"Where are you from?"

"USA"

"But where are you really from?/But whats your nationality?/Are you actually american?... like.. full american?"

American isnt a race! American =/= white. Yes im "full american" even though im ethnically latino! If you want to know my ethnicity/race then just ask me that instead of implying im not a "real" american.

I know most people asking this arent doing so from a place of malice, but damn does it get tiring after the 100th time.

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[–] JRLtheWriter@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (12 children)

If I may ask, where do you get these questions the most? I'm a Black American, have been living abroad for almost a decade now and traveling often the whole time. When people ask me where I'm from, I usually just tell them I'm from New York and that ends it there. Every once in a while someone asks me about my ethnicity or if I know where in Africa my ancestors come from. I usually just say that most African Americans travel their lineage back to West Africa but it's almost impossible to pinpoint a specific location. That usually ends that part of the conversation.

[–] DueDay8@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I think there are two things. A New York is a very, very well known place around the world. Probably everyone has heard of New York. Its also known via media for being multicultural especially and as being a place black people live. Whether the media representation was your experience, or not, people have heard of New York and will probably assume you mean NYC even if you actually meant Syracuse or Buffalo.

And two, it does depend where you are traveling whether people ask follow up questions.

I’m black and have been in Latin America (Peru, Mexico, and Belize) almost a year now and people always follow up when I say I’m from the US with, “But, where are you from?” I guess because the US is a big place? When I say Virginia, its about a 50/50 chance people know about that state or not, especially outside Mexico.

If I said the specific city I’m from, absolutely nobody would have heard of it.

I find, in Latin America people either assume I’m from the Caribbean until I speak (I blend in in Belize, but my partner —who is Belizean and white-often gets mistaken for a tourist) or African. Its very strange.

But as soon as I speak, even in Spanish, people hear my accent and ask where I am from, and they usually do follow up with, “But where are you specifically from?” even though half the time they don’t know where that is when I tell them.

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