Mistaken identity

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

His nationality maybe Dominican, but somewhere in that family tree there were some ancestors who came from Africa. He may not or you may not want to accept that, but the picture isn't lying.

All African Americans aren't pure, we all have a mix of some other nationality, i.e Naive Americans, European, Caribbean, Asian, the list could go on. AS William33 stated I saw nothing wrong with the brothers who were trying to connect with him.

BTW, the only people who will label him as Spanish origin will be the census bureau, so he better get use to being label as something else (other).

Edited August 15, 2011 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[jac_chappin 24]

OP - It's just ignorance but not in a bad way. Some people have pre-conceived notions thus automatically assume certain things. Rather than getting annoyed maybe take the time to educate.

Best wishes!

[William33 110]

Agreed on all points. Well stated LIFE'SJOURNEY!

His nationality maybe Dominican, but somewhere in that family tree there were some ancestors who came from Africa. He may not or you may not want to accept that, but the picture isn't lying.

All African Americans aren't pure, we all have a mix of some other nationality, i.e Naive Americans, European, Caribbean, Asian, the list could go on. AS William33 stated I saw nothing wrong with the brothers who were trying to connect with him.

BTW, the only people who will label him as Spanish origin will be the census bureau, so he better get use to being label as something else (other).

[Stann 3]

"Many of my Spanish speaking friends have attempted to speak English to him as soon as I introduced him to them. Only after telling them that he only speaks Spanish do they switch from English"

Is it not normal to intially approach everyone in English in an English speaking country?

[ana y ray 8]

my niece is a mixture of japanese and dominican. She looks japanese, but i know when she goes to japan they will know that she is mixed. In the Dominican Republic we are mixture of natives, african and spaniards. my family has all three mixture. To some people I look african american to others hispanic. some people even see some dominicans are they think they are white bc they don't know that dominicans come in every color

[Terca 6]

DOminicans have such a range of colors and facial features that we can be mistaken with almost everyone. People ask me if I am from Pakistan or India lol. Same can be said for most of Latin America because of the european, african and native american mix we share.

My sister, who is dominican, is married to a mexican man. She's very light skinned and when they go out in mexico people think she is "gringa", so her situation is similar to yours.

(My sister in the middle, with my bro-in-law and a friend)

I love the multicultural potlock that we have here, and don't mind to be confused with others at all. I take it as an opportunity to learn and teach because many times it is just innocent ignorance.

[TBoneTX 46,167]

He is now "mexicanising" a bit actually. He is now beginning to use salsa (spicy) in his tacos! Quite some progress for a man who thought black pepper was too spicy when he first arrived to the US!

And, that's something else, too: Probably 99.44% of everyone in the U.S. thinks that ALL Latinos/-as eat or like spicy food. Unless I'm mistaken about a Central American country or two, it's really only Mexico that goes spicy. In Ecuador, the food was so bland to me that I would have paid a royal sum for even some black pepper, si man.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

The USA is the "world" mixing bowl and as described in the original post of this thread, the people addressing your spouse were trying to connect. What could be wrong with that?

William33 - Yes, I actually love that even if it is in a "mistaken" way (mistaken in language and culture, but accurate in color/race) my husband has had a sense of affiliation. It could be seen as a sort of "gift" and being accepted to US culture.

As you Know Aztec I grew up right where you live, and so this comes as NO surprise to me.I have already spent a ton of time explaining that my fiance is Dominican, not black, not mexican but Dominican. This is true for my mexican fam as well as my white fam. People seem not to know where DR is or what language is spoken. I have always found it odd how the midwest sees race and culture especially that area. But we will soon see if Chicago fares any better in my fiances case. Wish you all the best!

Carol - You are right. People ask me if they speak Spanish in the DR all the time. I guess they know more about Haiti because of the eathquake. In general, people do not know much about DR. Unless someone they know (or themselves) vacationed or got married there.

His nationality maybe Dominican, but somewhere in that family tree there were some ancestors who came from Africa. He may not or you may not want to accept that, but the picture isn't lying.

All African Americans aren't pure, we all have a mix of some other nationality, i.e Naive Americans, European, Caribbean, Asian, the list could go on. AS William33 stated I saw nothing wrong with the brothers who were trying to connect with him.

BTW, the only people who will label him as Spanish origin will be the census bureau, so he better get use to being label as something else (other).

Life's Journey - Yes, there would of course be African heritage in him because of his color and the country's history of colonization. No, absolutely nothing wrong with the brothers trying to connect. I think I may actually be a bit jealous of this borrowed sense of affiliation. I sure did not have that welcoming feeling when I first came to the USA. I think he is lucky, in that sense.

OP - It's just ignorance but not in a bad way. Some people have pre-conceived notions thus automatically assume certain things. Rather than getting annoyed maybe take the time to educate.

Best wishes!

Jac_Chappin - Yes, time to educate and destroy myths and assumptions!

Agreed on all points. Well stated LIFE'SJOURNEY!

"Many of my Spanish speaking friends have attempted to speak English to him as soon as I introduced him to them. Only after telling them that he only speaks Spanish do they switch from English"

Is it not normal to intially approach everyone in English in an English speaking country?

Staceyafreeman - I guess I should have prefaced that example by saying that these meetings were at the Latin dancing club where most dancers are Spanish speaking and not English speaking (though there are some bilingual dancers and some English speaking only).

my niece is a mixture of japanese and dominican. She looks japanese, but i know when she goes to japan they will know that she is mixed. In the Dominican Republic we are mixture of natives, african and spaniards. my family has all three mixture. To some people I look african american to others hispanic. some people even see some dominicans are they think they are white bc they don't know that dominicans come in every color

Ana y Ray - Interesting combination. So, does your niece speak English, Spanish and Japanese? That would be great! She would be culturally and language rich.

DOminicans have such a range of colors and facial features that we can be mistaken with almost everyone. People ask me if I am from Pakistan or India lol. Same can be said for most of Latin America because of the european, african and native american mix we share.

My sister, who is dominican, is married to a mexican man. She's very light skinned and when they go out in mexico people think she is "gringa", so her situation is similar to yours.

I love the multicultural potlock that we have here, and don't mind to be confused with others at all. I take it as an opportunity to learn and teach because many times it is just innocent ignorance.

Terca - Thanks for sharing and thank you for sharing the picture. Yes, your sister looks very "white" even though she has dark hair. Yes, I can see how someone might think you are from the Middle East too. Many times people do not guess that I am Mexican. I was actually confronted once by a couple of Mexicans at the mercado who swore that I was "too white" to be Mexican. We need to realize that there is more than one mold for people.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Aztec&Taino

[NY_BX 397]

I disagree that it is ignorance. When I looked at the OP's pic I can see how this happens. Her husband appears "black". Having said that, my husband is Egyptian and gets mistaken for Hispanic all the time. He just corrects them and goes about his merry little way. People can take offense when often no offense is meant.

ignorance=lack of education. It is not meant as an insult, but simply as not being exposed to _____(fill in the blank)____. There's a misconception that all Hispanics are 'brown.' Therefore your husband is squared into that box. My fiancee is as white as milk. When we went to the pyramids sightseeing trip in Cairo, they thought I was the egyptian! They thought he was German or British! That, until we started talking.....

[Barbara J 115]

Well I am an Aussie and I am always mistaken that I am from England lol I suppose because I don't speak like Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin. Once I was in our mall and a young man at one of the vendors said to me "your not American are you?" And I replied "ah no" lol he said you don't look like American women more European looking I am in Georgia so they are not used to other accents that much here.

It is not just America that has so much multiculturalism it is in Australia as well. When you go out back home some days its try and spot the Aussie as we have so many different nationalities there now. Asians, Lebanese, Greek, Italian, Indians, Vietnamese,Phillipinos the Lot.

[Jim N Augie 16]

I guess to some degree it can be ignorance but also people go with what they know. Your basic american has probably not met many dominicans but they have met many african americans so maybe they just assume based on what they know. But I would think if you hear a person speak the accent should be a clue they are not from the US. For me the catch all phrase I hear for my fiance is asian. I can generally tell by looking if a person is japanese , chinese, or korean but it seems many americans can not. My fiance is filipina but can also be confused with latina. I have also seen pacific islanders get labled as asian. Jim

[Diana and Chris 25]

People mistake me as an American all the time. Even at Latin markets or restaurants they change from Spanish to English when they have to address me. It's not a problem, I find it even somewhat amusing, because when I just smile and answer in Spanish they start small conversations asking where I'm from and such. I guess they just didn't imagine that a Guatemalan could have red hair and very white skin.

[Operator 1,927]

Well I am an Aussie and I am always mistaken that I am from England lol I suppose because I don't speak like Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin. Once I was in our mall and a young man at one of the vendors said to me "your not American are you?" And I replied "ah no" lol he said you don't look like American women more European looking I am in Georgia so they are not used to other accents that much here.

It is not just America that has so much multiculturalism it is in Australia as well. When you go out back home some days its try and spot the Aussie as we have so many different nationalities there now. Asians, Lebanese, Greek, Italian, Indians, Vietnamese,Phillipinos the Lot.

Barbara J I'm embarrassed to say that I have made that same mistake myself asking someone from Australia what part of the UK they are from. Very embarrassing.

Your post makes me laugh a little bit though because my fiancée is from China and you reference Asians. Actually from your list only the Greeks and Italians aren't Asian. She is like most Chinese and is quick to point it out if she is questioned or mistaken for Korean or Japanese. Whenever I'm in China I'm always mistaken for Canadian.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Well I am an Aussie and I am always mistaken that I am from England lol I suppose because I don't speak like Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin. Once I was in our mall and a young man at one of the vendors said to me "your not American are you?" And I replied "ah no" lol he said you don't look like American women more European looking I am in Georgia so they are not used to other accents that much here.

It is not just America that has so much multiculturalism it is in Australia as well. When you go out back home some days its try and spot the Aussie as we have so many different nationalities there now. Asians, Lebanese, Greek, Italian, Indians, Vietnamese,Phillipinos the Lot.

While traveling in the Dominican Republic I've been identified as Canadian twice and British once... Makes sense since at the time I was mis-Identified I was the sole American in a group of Canadians and the the other time I was with a British couple.. I never corrected the mistake except for one time. Two women in a hotel lobby in Santiago were talking to each other and I overheard one of them identifying us as a Canadian group. I used this as an ice breaker and said "My friends are Canadian, I'm American" .. She stared at me for a second, blinked, shrugged her shoulders and said "same thing".. I said "true.. Kinda like Dominicans and Hatians". I was smiling when I said this and thinking I would get the playful evil eye and a "point made" type response.. Instead I was the recipient of a lot of rapid fire loud Spanish and they stormed off. My Canadian friends saw this and ran over and asked what I did to make them so upset and then admonished me "Don't ever joke to Dominicans that they look like Hatians!"... Anyway I no longer correct people unless they ask

[And_Sam 44]

My husband gets mistakened for being hispanic all the time. Usually it's older ladies who can see him struggle trying to come up with the english word he is trying to say. They will quickly start talking in spanish to him and he will smile and say can you say that in arabic?