If this is why we are “tired of talking about race” I could only one day hope it gets that easy for nuestra Gente. That means we would be getting access to quality education and becoming truly bilingual (or in some cases tri/multi-lingual).

Now, I get the annoyance – I understand, but frankly we have far bigger concerns to use precious blog/tweet/social network space on, especially when we have the access to communicate as the author apparently does. Then again it is her space to do as she wishes, but on a deeper level if we are committed to social change and changing attitudes our analytical content needs to be much stronger and less reactive.

(PS if someone can link the other article that would be great! I’d like to read it myself before forming a full opinion)

Te Cuidas,

temicamatl.

When I lived in China, people would ask me where I was from, and my response was I’m American. The follow up comment was almost always: But you don’t look American. Which was more welcome than the people who insisted that I wasn’t American, because I did encounter that response a couple of times.

In China, I partially understood it, because for them, where you are from, is intrinsically tied to where your ancestors are from. For the Chinese, where your ancestors are from, that is where you are from; the idea of adopted/changed identity doesn’t make so much sense. Also of course, the different language semantics is also a big part of that.

I feel like there is no winning here. I hate that this is a topic that we will never stop discussing in our lifetime; I’m tired of needing to explain myself. The only thing that I look forward to, is that, every time I explain myself, hopefully somebody might start to think in a different way. I’m looking forward to the day that somebody surprises me, much like the NYPD did for BeckySharper the other day.

Oh! I forgot that everybody loves Mexicans and that the whole country is just dying to lavish us with undeserved success. Allow me a few minutes to prostrate to the benevolent gods of this so-called “affirmative action.

Thanks for that bit of laughter during my day. I have heard all of these things as well and they used to frustrate me to no end, but I just respond with sarcasm. Many people can’t tell what ethnicity I am so they say, “What are you?” and I just respond, “I’m American.”

I was watching the soccer game yesterday and reveling in the diversity of ethnicities on the teams and in the names of the team players. You couldn’t possibly match the players to their names based on their appearance. It is just amazing to me that Americans haven’t gotten a clue about that by now.

1) I carried a weight around with me (is it true? no…it’s not true…but is it?)

2) When I managed to beat that back, then I would look at other latinos and think – what’s up with you people then?

It was poisonous.

Excellent response. I am going to add that to my repertoire the next time someone says to me “You don’t look Jewish.” My usual response—which is fairly effective—has been a frosty stare and, “What do you think Jewish people look like?”

You speak like a white person: check

You don’t look Mexican(Latina): check
My answer to this one is – logic fail. I am a Latina so by definition I am what Latinas look like.

You were academically successful because you are a minority: I internalized this point for a long long time. I’m really just getting over it now, and I’m a cuarentona. (40-something).

Hells, there is a whole lot of interesting in this post, please revisit this!

Just last week, I ran into a casual acquaintance who shares my last name. Me: “Hi Rodriguez, I always notice people named Rodriguez, it sticks in my brain, that’s my name too.” Her: “Oh you must be married to Rodriguez.” Me: “No, I am Rodriguez.” Her: “Well you certainly don’t look it.” etc etc blablabla. Yuck.

I told him that I wanted to see a legitimate, reputable source for his claim about gun laws. My name is a common Jewish one and I use it on fb, so what does he do? He sends me a link to some group called Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Really.

This kind of idiocy is part of what it means to belong to a minority. It gets tiresome on occasion. I’m always happy to answer a reasonable question, but the kinds of obnoxious stupidity that OHN lists in her article are not reasonable.