Rude to ask someone their ethnic background or nationality? (Christmas, person, children)

[Letsgo2020]

A lot people asking me where I from and I tell them.
I'm not offended why would I be offended if someone want to know.
A lot people never meet people from different states or countries.

[bewitchyou]

When a person ask someone "Where are you from?", that is a broad generalization. I feel that, instead, the question that should be asked is: "What is your heritage/family ancestry?"

[LS Jaun]

In some countries, people have no problem asking these questions. We are even told that asking such questions are part of their culture. Our culture is apparently a culture of Appologists and many are afraid of thier shadows.

[Corvette Ministries]

Apparently ancestry is big business given all the ads from the likes of Ancestry .com, etc.

Just don't ask anyone their results, I guess .....

[Letsgo2020]

[quote=ss20ts;47858248]Not a snowflake. Asking someone you don't know personal questions is rude! Part of my heritage is very obvious from my surname. And I can tell you there have been dozens of times people have made extremely offensive comments to me because of it....people who don't even know me. It's just down right rude![/QUOTE


Just wish them " Have a beautiful day" with biggest smile.
It works I say this the people calling me names such as bi..., etc.

[jgn2013]

Depends on the person honestly.

I'm "obviously" black (about the same complexion as LeBron James). The only time my ethnic heritage was questioned was during college. White Americans knew right away that I was black American but south Asians, east Asians and many 1st/2nd generation African students would ask were I was from. Then they'd ask where my parents were from. My first name is a simple old-Latin name and my last name is Gaelic in origin. People would guess Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone etc. I'd be like "no, I'm a 10th+ generation American." Perhaps it was a compliment, albeit a back-handed one. Made plenty of friends though. I was a sort of cultural ambassador, showing them that people are people and we aren't as different from each other as we'd like to believe.

[Lbjen]

Originally Posted by wase4711

nope, dont see how rude or annoying that is..
unless, of course, you are a snowflake, who gets offended and annoyed anytime anyone speaks to you...

When you've been asked 5-7 times a week for 15 years, let me know if you still don't think it's annoying.

[Lbjen]

Here's how it usually goes:

Where is your accent from?

Oh I thought it was from xxx country, you don't sound like you are from there.

How did you end up here?

Is your husband also from there?

Do your kids have your accent?

How do you like living here vs there?

Do you go back often?

Is your family all still there?

Are you going to stay in America?

Meanwhile I've just had the exact same conversation yesterday and maybe already today, and I'm having it all over again. And there's no polite way to avoid it. I've tried.

[HappyRider]

Originally Posted by sas318

But if you really want to know, start with, "I hope this isn't rude of me, but I was just curious to know where you're from?"

Sometimes when I am traveling and someone asks where are you from, I answer from Philly. I know that's not what they wanted to hear! How about this? You are a Mexican-born American citizen living in Arizona and are traveling in Europe. What's your answer to where are you from?

[HappyRider]

Originally Posted by wasel

My hubby is kind of exotic looking, so he gets asked about his background quite often. Doesn't bother him in the least. In fact he kind of likes looking different from the crowd.

The reason some people might hesitate to answer the question is politics. People freely and proudly admit they are "Italian", or "Irish" because there is no stigma. The same cannot be said if you are, say a Palestinian, or from any number of Islamic countries. I was riding Uber the other day and the conversation with the driver eventually got to this point. He was really hesitant to say he was an Afghan. This brings up another question. Will you ever become not-an-Afghan no matter how many years you've lived in the US?