I'm really uncomfortable about this:
RT @mrjamesob@twitter.com:
> Asking where a non-white British person *really* comes from is the slightly sanitised equivalent of telling one to go back to where they came from. That's why this story boils so much racist piss. It strips their bigotry bare.
It *can* be that. But equally, it can be a genuine if clumsy attempt to make conversation. I can so easily imagine (for example) my mum doing it, with the best intentions in the world.
Let start by assuming goodwill.
@mike I mean, I'm also a white person so I'm only guessing here, but I would imagine that most people of color do start by assuming goodwill the first few times they hear that question, but over the course of a lifetime gaining experience with what range of people ask it and what range of things they mean by it, it starts to feel like goodwill isn't really a great assumption.
