Aaahh! So you're American then!

Nice to see yet another Guardian article that contains the obligatory ad hominem attacks on Americans. By the way, Ms. Sherine, you'd likely be more comfortable in this part of the world with your eclectic heritage than London which despite its diverse population is still decidedly English. Enjoy.

Nice to meet you, Ariane (no questions) :-)

With a bit more padding, you could turn the business card into a book. Then beat them with it after they're done reading.

Well, it is a kind of interesting background. It sure beats knowing every ancestor back to fifty greats lived in the same valley.

To an extent, people are always curious about background - I've been interrogated by Irish B&B landladies down to them knowing exactly which parish all my grandparents came from. Try to take the piss with them by making one up and you're sure to find something dodgy in my poached eggs.

I know how annoying the question is, so I don't ask it, but we all seem to be curious about peoples backgrounds. I've a Brummie friend that I've known for years who has (from appearance) some sort of arabic or central Asian ancestry, but I've always felt the question would bug him so I've never asked about 'where his parents are from'. But of course, it bugs me all the time that I'd like to know, but never asked.

So nice to know that in the unlikely event I meet Ariane, I won't have to ask the question!

@SeattleOrca

Nice to see yet another Guardian article that contains the obligatory ad hominem attacks on Americans.

Err... did you read the article? Or just become upset with the comment about Tiger Woods?

Lovely article, Ariane.

And it may just be that some of the people asking you are interested and excited by the idea of meeting someone who, on the face of it, seems like they have had a far more exotic and interesting life than their own mundane, boring existence. :o)

Why are you telling us? We didn't ask what your heritage was.

That guy who asked you was doing so clumsily but it was still a pretty innocent line of questioning. That you might be less British because of your skin colour is a nonsense; you're attributing a view onto this man that he may or may not have had.

Last weekend, I had The Conversation for the 3,897th time

So basically you get chatted up a lot, by people who suddenly don't know what to say and ask you an inane question. Not surprising really.

SeattleOrca

Nice to see yet another Guardian article that contains the obligatory ad hominem attacks on Americans

Eh?

Do you want some salt and vinegar to go with that chip?

I always thought that Guardian journalists assumed that when asked "where they were from" the questioner meant "Oxford or Cambridge ?"

LuckyC
3 Mar 2010, 8:41AM
@SeattleOrca

Nice to see yet another Guardian article that contains the obligatory ad hominem attacks on Americans.

Err... did you read the article? Or just become upset with the comment about Tiger Woods?
_____________________________

I did read the article. And in so doing, I read about a woman who is full of stereotypical American self-loathing. Which is really too bad, since she might be surprised what a dynamic, multicultural society exists in the US in many places. I'm quite happy my half-Swiss, half-Korean kids are being raised here instead of England. I'm quite sure of that. They are quite happy to have connections to both places as well as the country they were born.

'It's partly down to exasperation at people thinking I'm less British than them because I'm brown'

I don't buy this. People are interested, simple as. You say so yourself - the colour of your skin makes it a little more obvious that your heritage isn't 1000 years of European peasentry as is the case for the majority of white people in Britain, and that is why you get curiosity.

I'm white, but as soon as people hear my unusual surname the next question is always on my heritage. Far better that everyone be interested, and interesting, than we all remain closed up frightened of anything outside the perceived norm.

Funny article, though.

Having an Indian great grandmother but English bred ancestors born almost all over the world thanks to an army background I can sympathise. I feel exactly the same way about India in which my only interest is in the curries which you get very good ones in England especially up north. Even one of our firms customers from India said the best one he had ever tasted was in a restaurant in Bradford.

That you might be less British because of your skin colour is a nonsense; you're attributing a view onto this man that he may or may not have had.

Depends a bit how old the questioner was. If they were over about 50 then it's, to them, a perfectly reasonable question. I have come across it before, when an older lady asked a black girl at work the "where are your from ?" question.
"Birmingham" was the answer but the older lady didn't "get it" quite.
I don't think she was in anyway "racist", it's just that, from her past experience black and brown people came from overseas.

Is that what you put on forms? 'A bit brown'? That should be an option. Anyway, the gene pool didn't half do nicely out of the deal.

Yes, but which part of London are you from?

I guess if you want to be the same (i.e. dull and predictable) as everyone else then it would get rather dull, but I actually enjoy being asked where I'm from. It means I stand out which is rather nice.

Q: Who want to be the same as everyone else?
A: Boring people.

The only question I'd ask is... "How YOU doin'?!"

To be fair, some people ARE curious. I've asked friends about their ethnicity before. not in a Spanish Inquisition sense, but because I don't want to put my foot in it later. But then again, I wouldn't ask a complete stranger... hmmm.

You should be proud to have such a diverse background, and flattered that 3,897 people found you interesting enough to ask about you.

@SeattleOrca

you need to chillax

Wow, you mean when you have to fill in a silly ethnic diversity form, you can put :

Other (Zoraastrian Persian-American)

Cool. That will seriously bugger up their data coding.

DrabWilly

I don't believe these conversations actually happened.

I promise you they do. I get them frequently. People who ask have my sympathy. With our stupid racial laws encouraging client (and victim) status I'm not surprised people want to know so they don't put their foot in it.

Well, it is a kind of interesting background. It sure beats knowing every ancestor back to fifty greats lived in the same valley.

What a ridiculous thing to write. How is it better? How is it any different, when it is, in fact, exactly the same thing(i.e. knowing your family history)? Why is having ancestors from somewhere other than the country you are a citizen of "better"? That's just as stupid and bigoted as making out it's worse.

Well how rude.

People ask where other people are from all the time, it's small talk and showing an interest. I get asked about where I'm from by Londoners too - Yorkshire is just as exotic to some.

The point, "dumbo" is that she lives in a country that forces her to abandon her heritage for an English one.

Some parts of the world have moved beyond that.

I don't think that's the case at all. The English experience is very different to the American one. A white English person is more akin to a Native American in some respects, part of a long settled, pretty homogenous population.
So, in the same way that a Najavo might assume that any one else in Arizona "came from someone else", you have people, especially older ones, who still think in that fashion.
No one "forces anyone to abandon their heritage" over here, quite the opposite.

A nice article

t is funny. Where are you from? is a huge improvement from a culture of assumption or not being able to recognise someone's ethnicity. " It is far too embarrasing to recognise that someone has a different colour"

Your conversation sounds like one of those excruciating converstations from the Office when David Brent makes more and more of an idiot of himself.

Isn't political correction just politeness. If the questions cam from an old lady( as Paribu says above), they would be rather endearing. From an urban 25 year old, probably not.

What attack on Americans? Being an American who has seen how England can be quite regressive on issues of identity I did not feel the author was against us at all.
While my time in England demonstrated to me an inclination amongst Brits to not deal with issues of ethnicity or race I think the author raises a great point about the limitations of national identity.

ps visit the States, you'd be surprised.

Nice. Pile on the ad hominem attacks. Always a sign that the merits are on your side. The point, "dumbo" is that she lives in a country that forces her to abandon her heritage for an English one.

Some parts of the world have moved beyond that.

Do you actually know what ad hominem means? Only you've used it twice now, and it isn't a synonym for 'being nasty to me'.

Tokyo's great, though. Really: best city on earth.

as my mrs (whos from japan which is in no way asia if you believe the british, who are in no way european) would say:

"island nation!"

in her country foreigners are most welcome as long as they are not trying to claim any sort of benefit and they are addressed as gai-jin san (outside people) and they tend to get special treatment if they have a basic grasp of japanese.

more to the point; are you as disappointed by obama as so many others?

Wow, you mean when you have to fill in a silly ethnic diversity form, you can put :

Other (Zoraastrian Persian-American)

Cool. That will seriously bugger up their data coding.

So it's people like you who ensure that my multinomial logistic regressions are all to pot because I can't get the Hessian matrix to invert due to an overabundance of empty cells. Damn you to Hades, AllyF!

You should be proud to have such a diverse background

Y'um not from round yer ?

@ Ariane Sherine

Stranger: Where are you from? [Translation: You look a bit brown. Why are you brown?]

Me: London.

You might find it easier if you mention the suburb instead of the city. As a Brit living in Australia I am regularly asked where I'm from (the Glaswegian accent is a give-away), and, without fail, when I mention I'm from the next suburb over the Stranger is momentarily stupefied, while I just smile back. They learn quick.

I find that your clothes say more about you than your skin colour. If you want to stop people asking where you're from, simply adopt the clothing styles of your parents countries.

For example you could wear a ten gallon hat, cowboy boots and maybe drape some leopard skin over your shoulder. In addition some tribal paint, a Denver Broncos football shirt and some stone-washed jeans.

Bingo! Nobody will ask where your from again!

Although dressed like that you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who'll talk to you at all.

I've had this question myself ("yeah, but you're not completely English though are you"), which is quite funny, considering that other people think I look like an English archetype. Differences in perception are interesting.

I've also asked people where they're from, had the reply "well, my Mum and Dad were from Pakistan", before explaining that I meant where in the Midlands, or wherever. I think some people get used to The Conversation being the other way round and pre-empt it.

Best film exchange on race is in The Searchers. Ethan glares at Martin Pawley and this exchange takes place -

Ethan: A fella could mistake you for a half-breed.
Martin: Not quite, I'm eighth Cherokee, the rest is Welsh and English. Least that's what they tell me.

Pawley is totally uninterested; Edwards is interested I little else, and that's the way it was and the way it is always going to be I fear.

London is and always has been the most multiracial of cities, as people have been noting since the 11th century. One of the running jokes in Till Death us Do Part was not just that the Warren Mitchell was Jewish but that Alf had Jewish ancestry as the other characters kept pointing out!

Morning all,

Perhaps I read a different article to those above so apologies, but I'll back this as the most ego soaked article in CiF this year.

The great crime that the article reveals is that someone dared to ask about your heritage. Not out of a judgemental standpoint but out of interest. This doesn't mean that they think that you aren't British, you'll be surprised to learn that plenty of people born in Britain who aren't white. You do realise this don't you? You know that you aren't the only one?

Granted, not all of them have the arrogance you seem to. Many I've spoken to actually seem to enjoy talking about their lineage and the varying stories that accompany. I've an unusual surname and have had people mispronounce it all my life - strangely I don't berate them for it - often they ask me what the correct pronounciation.

So either you are incredibly rude or are one of those people who loves to complain about getting attention. Which one is it?

He was probably trying to chat you up.

'Hey love, where ya from?'

Us locals to Milton Keynes area get the same sort of questions all the time. Nobody ever believes me when I say my family go back to the civil war in the area.

They just say: "But where did you come to MK from?" Then walk away with a puzzled look on their face.

In some ways it is a sensible question, though it should really be reframed in terms of northern Europe, rather than Britain.

People's pigmentation is related to where their immediate ancestors came from - pale people originate in northern latitudes, darker people in southern zones - both are an adaptation to solar radiation.

With more population movement, better sun protection, and vitamin supplements (if you have darker skin in a northern latitude you are at risk of vitamin d deficiency) this currently matters less:

"How common is vitamin D deficiency? It is very common. Research suggests that in the UK around 2 in 10 adults, and 9 in 10 adults of South Asian origin, may be vitamin D deficient. Most people don?t have symptoms and are unaware of the problem."

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Vitamin-D-Deficiency.htm

The good news is that if we are plunged back into the pre-industrial age, we all apparently carry the genes for both pale and dark pigmentation - some of our descendants would adapt and survive.

It's impossible to shut down ordinary, innocent curiosity about each others' visible characteristics.
It is impolite to ask personal questions but that doesn't mean everyone isn't thinking them, all the same.
I had a beautiful rescue dog; he was the best pet ever; he attracted comments wherever we went - which was everywhere; people would stop me in the street and say, " Excuse me, what kind of a dog is that? " to which I ran through a range of replies, some derogatory (he's a bitsa - bits of this, and bits of that) & others facetious (heinz 57), some solemn (he's a Manchester Dustbin Dog) and others explanatory (we don't know - the vet thinks he's half fox. We know he came from a feral city pack) .
None felt right, although these were always welcome dialogues in a harsh, silent & unfriendly world. The right reply was supplied by a botanist friend: "He's full of hybrid vigour",
As, in fact, are most of us!
P.S.My dog lived to be 23 years old.

Ariane,
I think you should develop different strategies, just to ring the changes.
How about the following at the point when you've insisted on London for the second time, e.g.
"And what about you? I mean, your English is amazing, but you're not quite bilingual, are you? No..no...let me guess! Hungarian? Finnish?"

Oh, next time they ask, just say you used those tanning pills in order to get a racial scholarship to University, and they never wore off... Or tell them you are dying of liver failure... When idiots open their fool mouths and let you know they are idiots, it's always a great opportunity to screw with someone's head. Who knows, you might open their mind a bit...

I'm part italian and intentionally get bent out of shape at ethnic forms that consider italians white but have a box for "Latin (Hispanic)" as if italians didnt invent the Latin language...

If I can get sense from this (it is difficult) it appears to be poking fun at the idea of racial nationalism. Yes, racism is kinda stupid, because races only exist because of inbreeding, a kind of group incest. Maybe in a 1000 years there will be no "races" to speak of.

But nationalism is stupid to, it is caused by the same inbreeding and group narcissism as "race".

But then, brilliantly, the article labels Iran as "uranium obsessives". Maybe reading less broadsheets might cure this group narcissism.

I get the question sometimes, and I'm pinko-grey.

"Where are you from"

"Munich"

"No, where are you originally from"

"London" (or "ireland" for variety").

But you've got a parsi-via-east-africa background Ariane? That's great. Does this mean you are related to Freddie Mercury?

@SeattleOrca
Now, just stop it, you silly thing, or you'll confirm all our prejudices about Americans being humourless dummies. And you wouldn't want that, would you?

This made me laugh, Ariane.

"Do you go to temple?" (only on my way to Embankment)

Whenever I give my answer to the Conversation, which is Irish-Jewish-Maori, people just think I'm an Asian in denile. There's just no pleasing some people...