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I've been called hispanic (Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan), native American, Armenian, half black, Indian, Samoan (that's the one I get the most lately and it's probably because of my weight) and even Korean.
I don't know HOW Korean got in there but someone actually thought I was Korean. Maybe I was sleepy that day.
I had a classmate who was from the American Samoan islands and she seemed offended when I told her that people call me Samoan.
I once had a Mexican woman get offended when I told her that I preferred not revealing where I was born and asked her to just call me by my name. This was when I was working in a restaurant and most of the workers there were Mexican and I noticed that, when they found out that you weren't Mexican, you got treated differently so I didn't reveal where I was from and it became kind of a game to guess where I was from. That's where all the different Latin American guesses came from. The guys in the kitchen thought that my Spanish was different because I grew up here in the US.
I've gotten Italian a couple of times. My guess is that it's because I want to move to NJ (and a lot of people assume with that, I'm originally from NJ). A terrible stereotype. Not an ounce of Italian in my blood, and I'm mostly northern European (Scottish/Irish/English).
(Not to sound pretentious, though. Some of my closest friends are Italian, and wonderful people. And who can turn down a great Italian meal? )
Anyway, are you ever mistaken for a race/ethnicity/ancestry that you are not?
I'm 75% Scandinavian (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, & Finnish) and 25% French. Unlike most Scandinavians, I have dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and an olive skin tone. Apparently, being one-quarter French was enough to give me all those features. Then again, it shouldn't be surprising because dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin, are dominant to light hair, light eyes, and "paper white" skin.
In tenth grade (I'm going to be in twelfth this year), I was in a special education class. This one guy would refuse to believe that I was white, and it really got on my nerves. Even after I told him my ancestries, he would still refuse to believe that I was white. He said that I was Mexican, so I'm assuming he thinks I'm Mestizo. I'm not Mestizo. Heck, I still could be Mexican though. Not all Mexicans are dark-skinned, dark-eyed, dark-haired Mestizos. There are Mexicans of European descent. But guess what? I'm not Mexican; I'm American. I'm a European American of Scandinavian and French ancestry.
A girl also said that I looked Puerto Rican, which is understandable. Most Puerto Ricans are of European descent, mostly Spanish. I'm a quarter French, and France borders Spain. Lots of Spaniards are olive skinned, brown-eyed, and dark-haired. But I'm still not Puerto Rican.
*sighs*
What about you?
For some reason, a lot of people have frequently mistaken me as being of Puerto Rican descent. However, I am 50% "white/Irish" and 50% African-American with a dab (very minuscule amount) of French and Native-American. The funny part is is that my much older sisters are actually 50% Puerto Rican (different father than I).
I get Eastern Europe, Hungarian, and Slavic sometimes. It may be the eyes which shift colors from green to blue to brown, or the ability to get a tan if I want one. The dark fine hair may also be a factor. I was born Blond and did not shift to auburn till I was a teen. What I do know is I come from a two lines from Switzerland. I have Hebrew on both sides mixed with French, and Danish as well as a possibility of some German, but as far as we have looked no members have come from east of the Rhine valley. It just shows how close our genes are, and how little difference we have in our genetic makeup.
I've gotten Italian a couple of times. My guess is that it's because I want to move to NJ (and a lot of people assume with that, I'm originally from NJ). A terrible stereotype. Not an ounce of Italian in my blood, and I'm mostly northern European (Scottish/Irish/English).
(Not to sound pretentious, though. Some of my closest friends are Italian, and wonderful people. And who can turn down a great Italian meal? )
I get mistaken for Italian a lot too... More so from people from the East Coast or from Europeans-since on the West Coast there isn't really a large concentration of Italians. It's funny cause when I go to East Coast cities with a lot of Italian-Americans, I look around at see a lot of people who look like my family members. And looking Italian isn't that bad--it's been a plus for attracting women.
Also I've been told I look Spanish. When I get more tan, I've been mistaken for being of Latino origin or even Native American; although I've travelled a lot around Latin America and while I could be mistaken for someone mostly of European descent from say Mexico or Argentina or Chile, I'm obviously recognized as not being Mestizo by the locals.
Since my ethnic ancestry is mostly Polish(my mother's side is completely from Poland) and my father's family is mixed American-mutt(black Irish, English, German, possibly some Native American ancestors), people are always puzzled why I look so Mediteranean...And I have family members on my father's side of the family who are even darker than me--don't know where the olive complexion and black hair comes from--although my grandmother(dad's mother) was adopted as a small child, so we never really never knew much about her side of the family---although her mother's surname was German.
I get Eastern Europe, Hungarian, and Slavic sometimes. It may be the eyes which shift colors from green to blue to brown, or the ability to get a tan if I want one. The dark fine hair may also be a factor. I was born Blond and did not shift to auburn till I was a teen. What I do know is I come from a two lines from Switzerland. I have Hebrew on both sides mixed with French, and Danish as well as a possibility of some German, but as far as we have looked no members have come from east of the Rhine valley. It just shows how close our genes are, and how little difference we have in our genetic makeup.
I get mistaken for Italian a lot too... More so from people from the East Coast or from Europeans-since on the West Coast there isn't really a large concentration of Italians. It's funny cause when I go to East Coast cities with a lot of Italian-Americans, I look around at see a lot of people who look like my family members. And looking Italian isn't that bad--it's been a plus for attracting women.
Also I've been told I look Spanish. When I get more tan, I've been mistaken for being of Latino origin or even Native American; although I've travelled a lot around Latin America and while I could be mistaken for someone mostly of European descent from say Mexico or Argentina or Chile, I'm obviously recognized as not being Mestizo by the locals.
Since my ethnic ancestry is mostly Polish(my mother's side is completely from Poland) and my father's family is mixed American-mutt(black Irish, English, German, possibly some Native American ancestors), people are always puzzled why I look so Mediteranean...And I have family members on my father's side of the family who are even darker than me--don't know where the olive complexion and black hair comes from--although my grandmother(dad's mother) was adopted as a small child, so we never really never knew much about her side of the family---although her mother's surname was German.
You're the opposite of me. Cameras fail to pick up my natural hair/skin color, in most cases. It's actually a dark blonde/light brown mixture, and (besides in summer, as FL will darken most anyone) generally I'm pale with ivory-light pinkish skin/blue veins. The NJ thing is mostly why I think people think I'm Italian (in fact, the only ones who ever assumed that I was, were strangers/customers of mine, who knew I wanted to move to northern NJ [Sopranos area, if you're familiar with the show]).
I get Eastern Europe, Hungarian, and Slavic sometimes. It may be the eyes which shift colors from green to blue to brown, or the ability to get a tan if I want one. The dark fine hair may also be a factor. I was born Blond and did not shift to auburn till I was a teen. What I do know is I come from a two lines from Switzerland. I have Hebrew on both sides mixed with French, and Danish as well as a possibility of some German, but as far as we have looked no members have come from east of the Rhine valley. It just shows how close our genes are, and how little difference we have in our genetic makeup.
I have an uncle who's eyes do that too. They are usually blue, but then in the sun, or just suddenly, they turn different shades. He's also blonde, so God knows what happened there.
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Then again, it shouldn't be surprising because dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin, are dominant to light hair, light eyes, and "paper white" skin.
He said that I was Mexican, so I'm assuming he thinks I'm Mestizo. I'm not Mestizo. Heck, I still could be Mexican though. Not all Mexicans are dark-skinned, dark-eyed, dark-haired Mestizos. There are Mexicans of European descent. But guess what? I'm not Mexican; I'm American. I'm a European American of Scandinavian and French ancestry.
