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Half Asian here. At least in my experience, those questions don't tend to come from a place of malice, just a genuine curiosity of ethnic background since they can't figure it out by look.

Sure, there are some racists too. But I've had plenty of ambivalent conversations that start off that way. Beats starting a conversation on weather or other generic topics.

Meanwhile my wife is from overseas. But because she's white, they'll quite happily let her know about all their xenophobia and racism, because they think she's one of them.

"Not you, you're one of the good ones" is trotted out constantly among those who suddenly remember who they're talking to.

because obviously you can’t be from anywhere in the states

try it with native american ancestory that is no longer native due to the pogroms in the 19th & 20th centuries; it doesn't matter that we were here first, we truly can't be from here anymore because nearly all of the ones who lived on this side of the border were genocided out of existence so now we have to get permission to live on the land we've been inhabiting for thousands of years.

the icing on this cake is pointing this out brands you a malcontent for doing so.

That reminds me of the scene in Parks and Rec where someone asks where Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) is from. He responds Illinois. Then the person asks "but where are your parents from?" He responds "Georgia."

I lived in Tennessee for a few years. I've never been greeted so many times with "do you speak English?" Sometimes I'd just be like "nah!" And walk away.

I really hate that racists have ruined a perfectly good question. I often want to actually ask people where in the US they're from, but I can't ask the straightforward "where are you from?" if the person isn't white because I know it can easily be interpreted as the racist version.

Instead I now ask "are you from [city we're in]?" to try to make it clear I'm assuming they're from the US.

My grandmother on my mother's side was Chinese-American. She and my grandfather met in Hawaii during WW2, and that's where my mom was raised, so we observed a lot of Hawaiian and Chinese traditions when I was growing up.

My grandfather on my father's side was raised Jewish by Romanian immigrants, but converted to Christianity, and my father eventually became an atheist. But we still occasionally celebrated certain Jewish holidays to honor his ancestors. My dad's mother was the child of German immigrants. She taught me to make some delicious German treats.

For my part, I pass completely as white (I'm a super pale ginger). But I'm proud of all my heritage, and my whole life I've hated questions on forms that ask me to pick one. If there's an "other" option or a "prefer not to answer" option, that's what I pick.

Ancestry isn't a box you check, it's a story you tell.

Me: Tennessee? Really? I'd have guessed Arkansas.

I always take the opportunity to mess with people who ask me that question.

Where are you from? - (a city in the US).
Where did you move from. - (an other city in the US).
Where where you born. - (a city in Europe).
Uhhh.... So uh.... I mean.... What's the... <starts sweating about a politely way to say, "the not-white part">

"where are you from?"
"Tennessee"
"No, I meant what country you originaly come from"

I'm Italian and just the thought of an official form asking for your race looks completely crazy and fucked up. Also, it would be completely illegal here.

Why are the US so f-cked up?

I was so hoping you were going to say that they discouraged you from putting white so that it opened you up for diversity-based scholarships. I am so disappointed to hear that was not the case. What they did is really messed up.

Even for white people - haven't you ever heard someone say something like, "I'm German and Irish on my mother's side"?

The idea of having two different heritages is completely common and obvious. It's not that Trump or other Republicans are having trouble wrapping their heads around the concept. It's a racist attack, plain and simple.

You have the ability to form thoughts, this puts you about above 90% of the average conservative fan base.

Unfortunately, the experience of being mixed race is a bit more complicated than that.

There are several groups that see me as a potential member but it's usually qualified with an implied "half-member". There's really no group that looks at me and instinctively says, "One of us."

But what if you're a POC and a billionaire who believes Trump will make you wealthier?

At least my parents won't vote republican because of homophobia. They're convinced dems will take all their money to give to immigrants and black people and force them to use paper straws...

In Obama's case, he had an estranged father in Kenya who died in 1982. Kamala's father is a tenured economy professor at Stanford (first black scholar granted tenure at Stanford too) and very much still alive at 85.

Kind of hard to sow doubts about her birth, when her father is not only living in the US, but also as an authority figure.

i hope they do and kamala responds with the epstein flight logs with trump on em

They’re planning on attacking birthright citizenship anyway, so it matters less. The angle is going to be that both of her parents were immigrants.

This is what happens when our leaders are a decade plus over retirement age.

People forget Bill and Obama were in their 40s, for some reason we just forgot we could run younger candidates

Kamala really should be the upper age range we look at for first term presidents. If everything goes well they're signing up for an 8 year commitment.

I can’t believe we’re not over all this trivial shit.

Maybe one day Dr.King's dream will come true.

I'm increasingly annoyed that it won't be during my lifetime, though.

Hopefully my kids will live long enough to see it happen.