The Just Thought I'd Share Thread

[HejiraNYC]

"Where are you from?"

It's an innocent enough question. But for some reason it bothers me. A lot. Last night at the gym, a younger guy just came up to me out of the blue and asked me where I'm from. At first I didn't know what to say. Really? I don't think I had been asked that question in, oh, 30 years. So in my most obnoxious accent ever, I replied snarkily- "hee-yah, Noo Yowak," knowing fully well he was really asking about my ethnicity. He obviously meant no harm. In fact, this was either the lamest pickup line ever or just a really, really dumb question. He seemed a little flustered by my response and then went on to say that he was an artist who draws different kinds of people and then some other idle chatter; apparently he was observing me for some time, which made me feel creeped-out. I could tell he was a few cards short of a full deck, so I just told him my ethnicity and politely ended the conversation as quickly as possible.

Way back in the Mesozoic age, when I was a wee lad, I often heard this question. All the time. Growing up in the suburbs back then, I guess it was unusual to see anyone who wasn't black or white. It was a more innocent time, I suppose. I don't know. But as America has become more diverse and somewhat more integrated over the intervening decades, race and ethnic identity seemed to become less and less of an issue. We are all individuals after all. And especially in a city like New York, arguably the most racially diverse city on the entire planet, people of different ethnicities and foreign nationalities make up the majority of the population. I guess all this time living in New York I have taken for granted the notion of being perfectly anonymous- just another ripple in the colorful stream of life. So after a lifetime of being a U.S. citizen living my life as any other American, the question, which I hadn't heard in, like, forever, jolted me like a drink thrown in my face: at the end of the day, people still see my race before they see anything else. And they make the automatic assumption that I'm an alien, i.e., not one of them. Really? It's not like he just saw me step off the boat at Ellis Island. I'm in a freaking gym in Manhattan, for crikey sake! I mean, he wouldn't ask a random white person this question. It's one thing to ask about my racial background (which is still kinda strange and totally irrelevant), but it's another thing to automatically assume that I'm not American.

I don't know... maybe it's just me...