Dreaming of the “Where are you really from?” moment and me pulling out charts of my family’s origins. Alright, let’s start with Sephardic Jews , work our way to the indigenous communities of Panay and meander through Ilocos via southern China.

I’m from the #Philippines. It’s complicated. I’m happy to answer this question when asked in good faith but I can easily tell the difference between curiosity and hostility.

Follow

@carlam I get asked a lot, because I have a clearly foreign accent. I can’t always tell what the intent is, and a lot of the time the curiosity ends up going a bit too far… I am also prepared to talk about my identity at length but have a standard answer to the initial question that most of the time allows me to test the intent. I still don’t know how to react to outright hostility though.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.