Your Hairstyles/Ethnic Confusion

[LunadeMiel]

People often ask me if I am Hispanic. Especially, Domincan (I'm Haitian). When I tell them no they usually give me the side ways look. When I'm around Africans I'm often asked if I'm igbo or Fulani...erplexed

I'm actually one of those people who like to ask people where are they from especially if I hear them speaking a different language. I've always been fascinated by different culutures, looks and languages. I guess I should have studied anthropology...

 

[senimoni]

totally ot but Glam...everytime I see your siggy I think you are holding a fake pic/photo up to your face...I keep thinking its so realistic...but then I'm like, no thats her...something about your expression and your hand keeps throwing me off.

 

[caribeandiva]

When I wrap my hair ppl think I'm either Muslim, Rasta or bald.

Lys

how do those 3 things go together?

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

I think it was that + your face & body.

How can you tell I look Hispanic from the back of my head? I don't think I've posted face pics on here . Nope, no hablo español which seems to piss them off even more cuz they think you're denying the culture .

I kinda saw your face pics in your fotki although they are not showing your whole face you could pass for one from what I saw . You should have saw the Dominicans they were asking for I.D. My first name doen't help either.

 

[charmtreese]

Do you have high/prominent cheekbones? It's a fairly common trait among people of West African descent (especially Nigerians and Ghanaians). Pulling your hair back emphasizes them even more I think.

yeah I do!

 

[bravenewgirl87]

Every time I leave the hair salon, the Trini/guyanese men go mad. I get West Indian a lot. But, I don't think it has much to do with the hair, tho.

Or, maybe... I never asked.

Trini men are funny.

Don't knock it ladies....I would feed into it and see if these people who stop you have cute male relatives. See if all that hair will win you a date.

 

[bravenewgirl87]

People often ask me if I am Hispanic. Especially, Domincan (I'm Haitian). When I tell them no they usually give me the side ways look. When I'm around Africans I'm often asked if I'm igbo or Fulani...erplexed

I'm actually one of those people who like to ask people where are they from especially if I hear them speaking a different language. I've always been fascinated by different culutures, looks and languages. I guess I should have studied anthropology...

I do too! Yeah! I'll actually chase someone down (esp. if its a boy or a mother... who might have a son)

 

[Maa Maa omo mti]

I have had ethiopians think that I was one of them back in the day when my hair was tightly curled.

 

[envybeauty]

LOL that's crazy all those nationalities!
Why do people have this insane need to ask where people are from?
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Because in the US, it is still very common to be from somewhere else...as in you or your parents came to this country from _________ (fill in name of other country). People like to know if you are one of them (as in from the same distant country), if you are like them (from the same distant region), etc. Especially in big cities which are more than adequately represented on this board.

 

[envybeauty]

With my braidouts..Them Ethiopians be trying Hard to claim me. Every single day. Its gotten to the point here I stop them b4 they open they mouth.

Them:Where are u from..
me:No I'm not Ethiopian..sorry
Them: U sure
Me: umm yes I'm sure
them: Maybe your father??
Me: umm sorry no, no one in my family is from Ethiopia
Them: u probably don't know
me: sorry I'm not....

it's the hair and the small frame. if you were 250 pounds with a buzz cut, all comments would cease

 

[Iansan]

Nope, never experienced this...

 

[Maa Maa omo mti]

With my braidouts..Them Ethiopians be trying Hard to claim me. Every single day. Its gotten to the point here I stop them b4 they open they mouth.

Them:Where are u from..
me:No I'm not Ethiopian..sorry
Them: U sure
Me: umm yes I'm sure
them: Maybe your father??
Me: umm sorry no, no one in my family is from Ethiopia
Them: u probably don't know
me: sorry I'm not....

But seriously I can see where they are coming from.

 

[ShiShiPooPoo]

Puerto Rican
especially when my hair is pulled back.

 

[tthreat08]

This is an interesting thread....

I get the following on the regular:

1. West Indian
2. East African

I've even been pin-pointed to a West African tribe...Fulani Tribe by several different people. This is most interesting.

The funny thing is that I don't look just like my mother or just like my father. I'm a blend of the two, and my features just happened to come out the way they did. Who knows, maybe I am a descendent of teh Fulani tribe.

 

[Nola Darling]

People often ask me if I am Hispanic. Especially, Domincan (I'm Haitian). When I tell them no they usually give me the side ways look. When I'm around Africans I'm often asked if I'm igbo or Fulani...erplexed

I'm actually one of those people who like to ask people where are they from especially if I hear them speaking a different language. I've always been fascinated by different culutures, looks and languages. I guess I should have studied anthropology...

You do look Dominican.

 

[Frustrated]

Majority of the time I will get Dominican and sometimes Puerto Rican just depending on how my hair is styled. They usual come up to me speaking spanish really when I wear my hair wavy.

 

[Bubblingbrownshuga]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

 

[glamazon386]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

I don't think it's the asking alone that's rude. I think it's how people are asking. And the insisting that you're lying and that you're something else that is rude.

 

[tthreat08]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

Good question. I have to say, I never feel offended at the question. I think it's actually a natural thought given that we here in the U.S. are so mixed across ALL ethnicities. In our own families there are large variances. I have first cousins that I favor as well as many that we look nothing alike. We have such a diverse blood line....almost all of us have some Native American, European heritage in there somewhere. I think it's most interesting when African American's go around explaining they are part this, that and the other. Isn't that a given when you are African American??? We are all of mixed heritage.

 

[HAIRapy]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

I'll tell you the truth, out of the few times people said I looked like I HAD to be mixed was mostly due to my hair. It was mostly Black men who said that to me (just to let you know that I don't get that from other races). I don't take offense though. I just think it's silly. I don't know if they really are wondering or if they think saying that will flatter me, but that's how it goes. There was only like 2 times people said that because of facial features and my brownish-reddish skintone.

 

[AfroKink]

how do those 3 things go together?

lol, I don't think they do.
I generally leave people in their ignorance. I was at a conference and a bunch of people were going out to the bar, which isn't my scene.

them "Are you coming to the bar?"
me "No thanks I'm good"
them "Oh, because of Ramadan?"
me "...no"

They can go on thinking I'm Muslim.

Lys

 

[LunadeMiel]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

I don't find it rude at all. I'm actually one of those people who like to ask. I'm just fascinated by how different we all look.

 

[AfroKink]

Can someone tell me why it's considered rude for a stranger to ask what ethnicity one is? I know I ask this question to many people, be it black or if they are actually another ethnicity. I don't push the issue if they tell me they are so-in-so when I 'think' they are another ethnicity/race. I don't get offended when one asks me either...unless they tell me I gotta have something in my blood line to have hair like this or due to how I look.

Gotta ask to those who are offended or find these questions funny- did you feel this way before or after finding this forum?

For me it depends on how they ask. If it's "what's you're background?", I think that's cool. But if they ask "Are you Jamaican?", it's not so cool. I use to not mind, and I get it far too much and it's usually due to ignorance. The conversation usually goes like this:

Them: are you Jamaican
Me: ...do I look Jamaican?
Them: uh... well... you look Caribbean
Me: there's more to the Caribbean than Jamaica.

I don't understand why people have to assume things.

Lys

 

[neonbright]

Not me but my step daughter, she get are you Cuban, PR or half white. And they always think I am her mom and her dad is white or some other race. When we tell them I am the step mom and her mom is light black (creole french mix) and dad black. But yes if I gave her some spanish lessions she could fool the best of them when I hook her hair up with my LHCF skills.

 

[SilkyandSmooth]

When I was natural I got the "you must be Dominican" or "you must have Indian in your family" comments.

When I straighten my hair I get the "you look Indian" comments.

Anything but black, huh?

 

[envybeauty]

How can one look Dominican? or look Jamaican? I could never understand that. I can see someone saying Hispanic or East/West African (as in one from a region) but a particular country?

I could see a difference between someone from India vs. China or Nigeria vs. Mexico, but to tell someone they look like they are from Costa Rica when they are really from Honduras. ....or that they look like they are from Iraq when they are from Iran. How do you pinpoint it?

 

[Iansan]

How can one look Dominican? or look Jamaican? I could never understand that. I can see someone saying Hispanic or East/West African (as in one from a region) but a particular country?

I could see a difference between someone from India vs. China or Nigeria vs. Mexico, but to tell someone they look like they are from Costa Rica when they are really from Honduras. ....or that they look like they are from Iraq when they are from Iran. How do you pinpoint it?

You can't, that's why those are silly questions...

 

[Petite One]

The most common inquiry I get is am I part Asian. Even from Asians. Which I suppose I do to an extent because I went to high school with a girl who was half Japanese and half black and we looked so much alike people would mistake us for one another.

And once an Indian woman asked me if I was from Bangladesh. Which is interesting because I use to work with a full blood Indian girl from Bangladesh and people regularly asked if we were sisters.

I think it's sorta cool how the physical features of races blend together.

 

[lisana]

this thread is so interesting to me. I have so many folks in my family who come in all shades and bone structure so I guess I'm just used to this and know that black, just black, can look so many different ways. I would never look at any of you guys in this thread and think you were anything other than black. I wonder if some people who are non black (and even some black folk) think THEY KNOW what black is supposed to look like and ANY deviation from that intrigues them and has them thinking the person must be something else or mixed with something else. interesting

 

[Kalani]

Yup all the time by both blacks and whites. It's really funny when Hispanics start talking to me in spanish first. hmmm let me see. And Indian said he has a cousin that looks just like me. And Had a Brazilian lady chase me down talking in Portuguese because she was sure I was from there. Oh and that one time when they were trippin in the airport in the Dominican Republic they argued me down that I was from there .I'm like how you gonna tell me where I'm from? These things happen alot more when I wear my hair down.

I get this a lot! When I respond in English they are taken back, then give a puzzled look as if they are tying to figure it out. I definitely get it more when I've had a Dominican blowout hairstyle. On a few occasions when I've worn it curly (depending on how the curls are acting that day),I have been mistaken for being of Morrocan background. And on two occasions I've been mistaken for being Italian . That was the funniest to me! I was like where did you get that?! Maybe South Italy, I know there is some racial mixing in some of those areas but I certainly in no ways look Italian in general, lol!

ETA: I know Italian is not a race, just saying that those people thought I had an Italian background, whatever that means. Maybe cause I talk with my hands, .