mistaken Archives - The Race Card Project

Yes, that is his daughter, too.

March 2, 2025March 3, 2025 Dania Abreu-Torres, daughter, mistaken, Muslim, Puerto Rican, San Antonio, TX, white

Dania Abreu-Torres
San Antonio, TX

My husband and I are Puerto Ricans. I am more “white” than he is -He usually was mistaken as a muslim-. We have a blonde, blue eyed girl. In Florida, he use to take her to the supermarket. He was followed by a lady and asked if the baby was really his daughter. He looked at her confused and then understood. He just replied: “Yes, don’t you see the resemblance? Especially the eyes?”, and then laughed. The woman was more confused, but did not replied and stopped following. I was so surprised, but, of course, race in the US is read from the color, never from ethnics.

Will they ask me or assume?

April 2, 2024April 2, 2024 adapt, ask, assume, biracial, Hillary Buren, Hispanic, Kansas City, mistaken, MO, what are you, white neighborhood

Hillary Buren,
Kansas City, MO.

As a biracial women growing up in am almost entirely white community I have adapted to addressing my racial ambiguity (I am most commonly mistaken as Hispanic but even have been confused for as Indian) and usually I resort to humor when it comes to this topic. However it never ceases to amaze me how uncomfortable it is for people when they cannot classify me right away. I run into 2 types of people those who just ask and those who assume…on the rarer occasion I met those who allow me to bring it up in conversation… and those are the people who earn my trust the quickest.

I (Filipino) get mistaken as an employee often.

March 7, 2022 employee, filipino, mistaken, restaurant, The Help, Toni, VA, Winchester

Toni,
Winchester, VA

There is nothing wrong with it, but it makes you think about how people see you. It happened many times at the grocery, restaurant, cruise, and mall. Sometimes I will feel insulted, but now I feel proud that they know that my race is known to be workers, and they are happy to help, approachable, and naturally friendly.

Whites can’t tell blondes apart either

September 20, 2018 blonde, colleague, Erin Jones, hair, Lake Placid, look the same, mistaken, NY

Erin Jones,
Lake Placid, NY

How many times have I known people (mostly fellow whites, but also blacks?) who can’t tell two people apart if they both have blonde hair. No matter how different they otherwise are in size age length of hair etc. Why is this? Is there any racial message in it? Is it different when a white person can’t tell me apart from my colleague who is 10 years older, or when a black person can’t tell me apart from the same colleague? It’s baffling.

A costume mistaken for an actor

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 @patarnold826, actor, constume, mistaken, Patricia Arnold, say what, twitter

Patricia Arnold
Submitted via Twitter: @patarnold826

Never Accepted As American While Abroad

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 abroad, American, Asia, Half, J Smith, Japanese, Kenya, look, mistaken

J Smith
Kenya

I’ve spent several years living outside the US (Europe, Asia, Africa) and being half Japanese, I am always mistaken for being from the continent of Asia. Even when I tell people repeatedly that I am also half white and that my Japanese side of the family has been in the US for over 100 years, people still ask me about what life is like in Japan. People bow to me, ask me how to roll sushi, or tell me the two words they know in Japanese on a regular basis. I think most of it has to do with the media in the US in that almost everyone they see in Hollywood is white and hence, they have a really hard time understanding how an Asian looking person can also be American.

Mistaken for Mexican at Arizona protest

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 AZ, enlightening, FL, Mexican, mistaken, protest, scary, Vero Beach

Claudia
Vero Beach, FL

Scary but enlightening’s

People never guess my race correctly

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 ask, assume, Athens, Barcelona, CA, Catalonian, French-American, Greek, guess, Istanbul, Lara Jean DeShayes, mistaken, mom, multiracial, Naples, Naval, Oakland, odd, Olongapo, Olongapo Philippines to a Filipina, Philippines, Race, seaman, Turkish

Lara Jean DeShayes,
Oakland, CA.

I was born in Olongapo Philippines to a Filipina mom and French-American Naval seaman. In Oakland, I’m often assumed to be Latina or Hispanic but as I’ve travelled around the world, people often mistaken me for someone of their own race: Turkish in Istanbul, Greek in Athens, Italian in Naples, Catalonian in Barcelona. In the world of multiracialness growing, I find it odd for people to assume what race you are by looks. Why not just ask?

I feel uncertain about the future

March 20, 2018 ambigous, birth certificate, Brittish, CA, Cara Rose, future, German, Granada Hills, mistaken, mixed, Portugese, San Jose, where are you from

Cara Rose,
San Jose, CA.

I’m White. Formerly, I was Mixed; Portuguese and British/German. I only became White when the US census bureau declared the Portuguese a White race. I don’t know how to feel about losing a part of my racial heritage that has been swept into a generic term that doesn’t seem to mean very much. Especially since I still get asked “Where are you from?” Slowly and loudly as if they expect I don’t speak English. I know they are not asking where in California am I from. And they never seem to believe me when I say I’m a native of Granada Hills, which is where I was born and is on my birth certificate. What they mean is, what country am I from since I obviously can’t be American because I don’t look White. I look racially ambiguous. I have been mistaken for every race except black. So what does it mean to be White in a culture that often doesn’t view you as White? And where Whites are losing their status anyway. I have no answer for this.

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