Filipino-American

Basically.

> “What nationality are you?”
“American.”
> “No, I mean, like what are you?”
“Homo sapien, aka Human Being.”
> “Nooo, like, where is your family from?!”
“Oh, so you mean what is my race or ethnicity?”
> “YES, what’s your ethnicity?”
“Filipino.”
> “Oh, okay, that’s what I thought! I worked with some Filipinos before! I love Filipino food!”
-____-

1) You will never hear me say, “Oh you’re Mexican, I worked with Mexican people. I love Mexican food.” I don’t understand why I’ve come to have this conversation so many times.
2) I can’t tell you how often I’ve had this conversation, either in full form or in bits, and how it makes me see these people. I automatically assume that this person isn’t as self-aware as they understand and it me feel like I can’t relate to them on more than one level. And that’s important to me if any type of communication is to be continued.
3) Please please please don’t be that person. Please, and thank you.
4) If you want to spark up a conversation with someone about their race, I suggest talking about the country. If someone were to say, “Oh that’s cool, have you ever been before?” or “I had friends that visited the Philippines…”, it’s a much better way to angle a conversation about where their family comes from.