You don’t look like you’re Mexican.
Alyssa Ortega, Fresno, CA. I was born into a Mexican family, with parents who were BOTH born outside of marriage as a result of infidelity....
I don’t have to speak spanish
Jennnifer, Fresno, CA. No matter where I am, people will come up to me and start speaking Spanish. I assume it’s because they assume that...
No, I’m not Italian or Spanish.
Michele Warch, Georgetown, DE. My mom is English and Native American. My dad is Scotch-Irish and German. I speak Cherokee and read some Gaelic. I...
Don’t speak Spanish to white relatives.
Max Lazzara, Minneapolis, MN. Bilingual when I learned to talk, raised among my father’s Floridian family of Spaniards, Italians, and Cubans, I was just as...
You’re spanish and don’t speak it?
Keatan Oliva, McAllen, TX. Growing up near the boarder of Mexico, where I would often cross with my mother to have lunch on weekends, it...
French firstname, Spanish lastname. I’m Indian.
Danielle Fernandez, Trumbull, CT. I’m Indian, but born in Zimbabwe. I always greet the question of “what is your background?” with a little sigh, and...
They’re Shocked When I Speak Spanish
T.W., Baltimore, MD. I am White, non-Hispanic, but I go to Mexico on a regular basis so I have worked really hard to speak decent...
Mexican white girl what are you?
Gabriella Ortega, Riverside, CA. I live in a world where my own kind thinks I’m a shame because I’m Mexican and don’t know Spanish. They...
See My Face Guess My Race
Ed Houlemarde, Duarte, CA. I am what is considered a Creole – depending on wher I am I can be lumped into that areas primary...
Yes, white skin, and still Mexican
Judee Fernandez, Los Angeles, CA. I am a white looking Mexican woman born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents who are brown and proud. Yet...
Blacks who speak Spanish confuse people
Manuela Bernardez Kuchta, Pittsbugh, PA. It can be very frustrating at times explaining myself or a good teaching experience depending on who’s questioning me.
I’m not Mexican, I’m Spanish
Ryan Gonzales, Vacaville, CA. Everyone looks at my last name and think that I am Mexican because my last name is Gonzales. My family came...
You speak Spanish? But you’re white!
Adriana Pedroza Both of my parents were born and raised in Mexico. Looking at my family pictures, I’m the odd one out. As a child,...
I’m urban anglo not suburban white
Leslie Brooklyn, NY From the southwest. Speak English and Spanish.
Light skin does NOT mean white.
Sabrina Vargas Albuquerque, NM Being Spanish I have light skin. Many people in Spain have blue eyes, green eyes, red hair. Just because I have...
I speak Spanish, I ain’t Mexican
Mariel Oak Hill, VA Most people assume that just because I speak Spanish i’m Mexican or Spanish–no, I’m Peruvian.
I am Mexican-American. No, really!
Anna Council Bluffs, IA My dad has a thick accent and looks very Mexican, but can’t speak Spanish. I look and pass as white, but...
