“You’re American? But you don’t have the face of an American!” a Laos guy tried to tell me last year while I waited to get on my boat. Apparently my reply was a little curt as the Canadian chick next to me started laughing when I dryly replied, “America has many faces.”
Seriously, though, not only is the “Where are you from?…No where are you REALLY from?” question incredibly annoying in the US, but it was also maddeningly frustrating while traveling. Just because I’m not white or black, people couldn’t believe that I was REALLY American. Really, though. Have you heard me talk? Have you looked at what I’m wearing? Have you seen my passport? Seriously. And do you know ANYTHING about American history? I mean, really. Americans get bagged on all the time for our lack of world history and geographical knowledge (and generally rightfully so), but come on…I look far more “indigenous” American than any of the blond-haired chicks next to me. And none of us are actually indigenous. America is full of immigrants. Nobody “looks American”…regardless of our faces, or even our clothes. America is a nation of immigrants, Beavis.
Don’t believe me? Last week while in LA, I caught up with my old co-workers, which included three partial/full Latinas, an Indian gal, and a Vietnamese guy; then I went and had my taxes done by a guy who’d grown up in Calcutta; then I had my hair cut by a woman from Seoul; and at the end of the day I had dinner with my old roommate (of Scandinavian descent) and was served Mexican food by a guy from Jalisco, Mexico.
…and we’re all American. Yes. None of us are no more or no less American than the next. Perhaps we were raised with different religions, languages, or values than each other, but that is exactly what makes us American, my friend. Regardless of what face you’re looking at.
This is such a good post Jayna! It really spoke to me.
I agree with everything you said up there, except that you put it much more eloquently than I ever could have
Yeah!