As a U.S. born Latina of Mexican descent, I have been asked my fair share of ignorant questions by other U.S. born Americans. Somehow some people fail to recognize that if I was born in the U.S.A. and they were too, then I'm every bit as "American" as they are. Some of these silly questions are asked by well-meaning folks, but they get tiring nonetheless. It just confuses people when you are not easily definable and sometimes they ask you a question that wasn't really the question they meant to ask you, but they just don't know any better. Sigh. It's okay, we're all human, we're all here to learn from one another. I'd like to suggest that the following are five questions that every U.S. born Latino is tired of answering.
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Where are you from? That's usually asked because you look slightly less than apple pie and stars and stripes. You get a confused look when you answer something along the lines of, "California."
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What is your nationality? This question either comes on its own or right after you just told someone you are from California. Then when you tell them you are an "American," you can almost see their head implode.
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What about your family, where is your family from? At this point you just feel bad for them and tell them that your family originates from Mexico, or El Salvador, or Colombia.
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Do you speak Mexican? Yup, people ask this. I kid you not. I usually answer with the question (Socrates would be so proud), "Do you speak American?"
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How come you don't have an accent when you speak English? Ugh!!! To this one I always want to answer, "I do have an accent, fur sure; it's a California Valley Girl accent.," but usually I smile and say, "Same reason you don't have an accent."
I can assure you that I have been asked all of the above questions on more than one occasion and I know I am not alone.
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