Is it racist to mistake someone's nationality?

[Accipiter]

I've noticed that some people take great offense to being called the wrong ethnicity by another person. For instance a lot of people in the states are very likely to assume any Hispanic they encounter are Mexican. I have some Colombian and Chilean friends who really don't like being called Mexican. Likewise I know plenty of Asians who don't like it when they are all assumed to be Chinese.
But it seems to me that while it's ignorant to assume a person's nationality based on their race, I don't feel it's racist in any way like that.

[rose004b]

"It's ignorant to assume a person's nationality based on their race".

I think that's quite natural. It's definitely not racist.

Take me, for example. I'm white, but I was born and raised in a non-white country. When people ask me, "where are you from?" and I tell them, they usually say stuff like :
"you don't look like someone who comes from there"
"but… You're white O_o"
"What? No way o__o "

And quite frankly, I don't mind, because I understand why they react that way. It makes perfect sense.

However, there is a double standard because Western white countries have a history of welcoming immigrants in their lands, so minorities love to whine about "racism" whenever people don't assume they're nationals or citizens of a predominantly white nation. That's considered racist or ignorant, but if a white Bolivian is mistaken for a German or any other European, that's totes not racist or ignorant.

As for Latinos: judging solely by race or ethnicity, it's difficult to tell apart Aztecs, Mayans, Incans, Andeans, etc. Just like it's difficult to tell Asian ethnicities apart. However, people are aware that these ethnicities belong to different nations/countries. So, when it comes to assuming that any Latino is Mexican --of course that pisses them off. That *IS* ignorant, because there are 33 countries in Latin American and the Caribbean regions. Mexicans and Mexican culture belong to Mexico only.

[Relentless_Hippie]

The thing with that is a lot of the people who say those kinds of things know better and choose to ignore it. In their minds "it's all the same thing" and they don't care nor respect the cultural differences between those ethnicites. I'm half Puerto Rican, and I can't tell you the countless times I've heard someone call Hispanics Mexicans. They use Mexicans to describe ALL Hispanics. They use Chinese to describe ALL Asians. It's offensive and it is rude. It might not be racist, but it does bring to question if the person calling people that is either an idiot who is completely ignorant, or just racist. Because it can only be one of the two. Either you're stupid or racist. I don't mind when people ask me what I am because I'm mixed. What I look like doesn't fit into one racial category so I welcome question however I do get very offended if someone calls me black, even after explaining to them that I'm not.

[lumos]

Yes it is. You're assuming that because they look a certain way, they must be from x country. Or if you insist on calling someone Mexican despite the fact that you KNOW they're from Chile or Colombia (for instance, also not saying this is something *you* do) then you're completely disregarding their cultures and where they're actually from, and that is indeed racist.
Buzzfeed made a video on this a while back, people were forced to label Japanese, Korean and Chinese people based on what they looked like (I don't remember if they included any other countries). Most of the time, they were mislabeled. It really goes to show that you shouldn't make assumptions about someone's race/ethnicity based on looks alone. If you're unsure, just ask. Don't assume.

[Accipiter]

Even if it was a legitimate mistake is it still racist? I can understand it being offensive to some, but at the same time I don't think it's fair to paint everyone with a racist brush by calling them racist when they are not.

[lumos]

Anyone who's willingly making such mistakes without even thinking twice about why it's wrong to mislabel people is racist since they clearly don't care enough to actually not make that assumption in the first place.

[Accipiter]

Yeah I can agree with you that if they are willing to make such mistakes it could be getting into racist territory. But I don't believe that every form of cultural insensitivity has racist intent. Sometimes we have to give the person the benefit of the doubt. someone who hasn't had much international exposure to other cultures might be more likely to mess up.

[Laura_Marx]

You're right that it's ignorance, but it's racist because it's kind of a willful ignorance. There are poeple who are perfectly capable of cataloguing every state by its accent, football team, baseball team, political tendency, major export and maybe even date of foundation, but can't tell the difference between Brazil and El Salvadore. They don't care because they're racist, they hear people when they say 'not all of us are mexican' but they don't bother to remember for the next time they meet a latinx person. You know?

They had a good skit about it in King of the Hill:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_CaZ4EAexQ

[Eugene]

Racism:
* The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
* Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

Being unable to distinguish Colombian and Mexican is not racist. Only a retarded liberal would coin "racism" in this way.

[Accipiter]

Indeed. I'm sick of liberals in the media calling others racist when they are not, homophobic when they are not, sexist when they are not, etc etc.

[Eugene]

Just do it like I do: I always discard opinions of leftists as irrelevant.

[OffensiveGnome]

Racist is the wrong word lol Everybody confuses nationalities at some point for instance American vs. Canadian I cannot tell you how many times some fucker called me American. It's not racist, should i say ignorant? No, it's only ignorant if you refuse to acknowledge the nationality. I see this as a mere misunderstanding nothing more at the end of day we are all humans lol so call everyone a homosapien if you want lol. Apologize, forgive, and let live.

[rosey_bananas]

It's ignorant if you can't distinguish between people who really do look very different. I'm not Asian but there is a huge difference between how Chinese people and Filipinos looks, for instance. And they have completely different languages and cultures. I don't think it's as big of a deal if you are not able to tell the difference between people of countries that speak the SAME language, e. g.: Hispanic countries or Arab countries, if you are not from that race/background. That is understandable. But some might view it as racist because anyone who looks different is just homogenized and put under the same category because they are not white. So i understand both sides. I think the main advice is to not be presumptuous--always ask in a polite way if you're not sure and always be open to learning.

[MattDamonAndFriends]

I don't think it's necessary racist what you described, i feel that with japan and China pretty much being the most populated its the easiest thing to fall back on because the chances are much higher but i also do agree that if you have to guess where they are from you should probably just ask instead its much more simple and far less of a headache.

[Jehovahkiin]

It's not racist in any sense of the word.
Not being able to distinguish the difference between a Colombian and Mexican, or a Libyan and Tunisian hardly constitutes 'racism'. It is merely ignorance regarding specific physical features and accents exclusive to the region they're from. Racism would imply that you feel that they're inferior for being X race, that is not what is happening here.

[code3]

It's just ignorance plain and simple, not at all racist. I've been to Korea, met Japanese, Chinese, and Singaporean people and I still can't tell them all apart. It's hard. And if they want to get butthurt about an honest mistake, that's on them.

[abc3643]

It's racist if you get it right based on their race.

[Laura_Marx]

I thought that too actually. Being able to guess someones nationality with 100% accuracy based on what they look like is probably evidence of being a little over-invested >< racism by way of the old anthropologists, orientalism etc.

[AleDeEurope]

It's not racist, cause there's no hate.
I don't think it's wrong either, you're mistaken about their nationality, and? They can correct you and that's it.

[lumos]

Racism doesn't need *hate* to be racist. Ignorance, being unwilling to learn and mindlessly lumping people of color into the same category despite having vastly different cultures is also racist.

[AleDeEurope]

@lumos Not according to the definition of racism.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

If I ask if you're from Sweden instead of Finland, would you consider me racist?

[lumos]

The definition didn't say anything about "hate". Ignorance and being unwilling to learn about different cultures could also be considered poor treatment since you're boxing people in and labeling them blindly without taking their heritage into consideration.
White people don't experience racism the way people of color do. I. e. if you ask me whether I'm from predominately white country x or y, it's not racist. However, people of color experience this type of ignorance very frequently, and in a more hostile way as well, sometimes paired with racial slurs etc.

[AleDeEurope]

@lumos Correct, it doesn't say "hate", but it does say "poor treatment of or violence..." which implies dislike towards that race, and hate is an intense or passionate dislike.
Why is the same situation considered racist towards one group, but not to the other?
I've been asked if I was Mexican because I speak Spanish, that should be considered racist according to you. I've also then been told that I'm Latino because I'm from Spain, which should also be considered racist. Or is it that not racist because I'm white?
If I ask a black person if they're from Kenya but they're from Ethiopia, it's racist because they're black?

We can't end racism if we keep using double standards.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos racism can only happen to people of colour? lol

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL yes.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos since when? i do hope you know that it can and does happen the other way around?

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL since systemic oppression is something white people cause thanks to power. No power = no racism = no oppression.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos i think it's a bit strange that you think only whites have power in this world. you are wrong.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL did I say that?

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos you did say that in your last comment. have you ever been to asia?

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL I didn't say only white people have power in the world. I said that there's no racism without power.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos ok i got that but you did say that it can only happen to people of colour. do you need to see it in person to believe it?
my finnish friend said an arab woman he'd never met before threw her shoe at his head and yelled at him in her language. in finland.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL that would be harassment and possible discrimination depending on why she did it. Not racism.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos ok so when my overweight white American friend sits down carefully (he's very well-mannered) in an empty seat on the train and the people next to him immediately get up, walk to another part of the train and find another seat or stand, guess that's not racism? it happens to him almost everyday. i hear people making rude remarks about gaijins all the time. lumping them into a group and making negative comments, jokes, etc. serious stereotyping. and no it's not harmless. it's a major social issue.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL maybe because he's overweight?

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos he's not that overweight. and i have sat next to him on the train many times and he doesn't spill over or anything. he doesn't smell.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL there's a difference between xenophobia and racism.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos i am willing to bet money that you, being the race that you are, would not be able to marry a japanese man from a decent family because his parents wouldn't allow it due to racism. not xenophobia. racism. i know several cases where this happened. i don't know a single case where the couple were given the ok.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL Japan is known for being extremely homogeneous so this doesn't surprise me at all, nor is it considered racism.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos it is racism. it's nice of you to pardon people when you feel like it but it is obviously racism. you choose to be blind to it.

[lumos]

@COCOCHANEL xenophobia and homogeneity.

[COCOCHANEL]

@lumos alright. have it your way. you won't care until it affects you personally.

[desidoll]

Mistaking someone's nationality isn't but mistaking someone's race yes. To me it's better to ask rather than making own assumption because if we guess it wrongly, the person might get offended.

[HonestWhiteGuy]

That's called an honest mistake not racism. Jeez the word "racist" is so overused now a days it barely means anything.

[ToruMatsuda]

No it's not, I don't get why everything is racist, I'm Mexican and I get confused for being Indian , Hindu all the time it doesn't bother me

[WillowTree]

Rather than say it's racist, try asking them what their nationality is first before referring to them as anything else.

[abundantlyrich]

Its just naivety lol that they have to be reminded of a particular race

[zagor]

Not racist, just stupid. But why would someone feel they need to bring it up anyway?

[Gordita007]

No its not racist at all it's just some people get mad over stupid stuff

[Anonymous]

yes it's racist to ask people where they're from in the first day of meeting too...

[someguy3091]

It's not racist ignorant maybe but not racist.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

I don't think you know how race works

[desipierre]

I think it's not racist but is offensive

[WhaChaChaKing]

I guess it depends.