Where #ImFrom: Not an exotic object

By Winnie Wong

The cashier at the wine store around the corner from my Boston apartment asks the question as he rings me up.

“Where are you from?”

Where #ImFrom: Struggle for satisfaction

By Armand Cuevas

In Japan, more so than in America, I am reminded that I am not white.

The question of “Where are you from?” in a place as diverse as California was almost always innocuously aimed at your…

Where #ImFrom: A little darker

By Ali Hajighafouri

In Indiana I was “Mexican,” but in Walnut Creek, California, I was a poor “Arab redneck” (never mind the fact that Iranians are Persian, not Arab).

Where #ImFrom: Fear and forgiveness

By Jason Duaine Hahn

I was a constant target for gangs in the Los Angeles–area neighborhoods where I grew up. Older teenagers bullied me at school, on the way to the market and outside my home. And each time, regardless if they came from…

Where #ImFrom: Real-life aliens

By Matthew Claiborne

I was 10 years old when someone first asked me, “Where are you from?” The incident took place in a tiny Louisiana river town. I was playing in a city league basketball league and my predominantly black team found ourselves…

Where #ImFrom

We asked our audience how they’ve responded to the question, “Where are you from?”

Where #ImFrom: A diagnostic question

By Anh Ho

As a doctor, I get some of the most personal questions: Is it serious? How long do I have to live?

But there’s one question I get more than any other: Where are you from?

Where #ImFrom: Swinging identities

By Christopher James

Florida, where I grew up, is an entrapping place. It might be the humidity, the cheap rent or the many minimum-wage jobs, but people who move there tend to stay there, and I don’t think it’s purely by choice.

Where #ImFrom: Table of Contents

We asked our audience how they’ve responded to the question, “Where are you from?”