The Perpetual Foreigner?

What is the "perpetual foreigner"? It is when a minority (usually Asian American or Indian American) is mistaken for a foreigner. They get asked that question "Where are you from?" They answer and then get the question "No, really, where are you from?".

We all know the "Where are you from?" question. We all get asked that question by strangers, who are curious about our locations. Some people are surprised, maybe because they live there or know someone who lives there, or because we do not behave in a way that would allude us from being from that location (examples: if you are a city person but are so good at farm life, that one would be surprised if you said you are a city person, or if you are so knowledgeable about city life, yet never been in the city, people would be surprised by that).

But what makes questions like these take a turn for the worst, is when you get the question "No, really where are you from?" or variations of it.

I never knew about this, and for me its hard to imagine that it happens, it sounds soooo stupid. But it does happen. This happens because some people find it hard to believe that Americans are not just white people.

Asians and Indian Americans often get the brunt of this due to the fact that their history in American isn't as extensive as it is for Native Americans, African Americans, and whites.

In a bit of irony, as I was researching this a bit more, I found that Africans (or blacks that are not American at all in general), deal with this in opposite form. They are always classified as African American, even if they are from Britain, Jamaica, the Caribbean, etc. People have more trouble seeing them for what they are, and not as African American. Don't get me wrong, all minorities that don't look white are seen as less American (and white American brand of "patriotism" aka nationalism (like the Neo Nazi kind), make it even harder).

The perpetual foreigner pretty much denotes anyone of Asian or Indian descent to not be automatically assumed as Americans. My university has a major body of international students from India and China, which would means people may mistake those who are American for a foreigner.

The perpetual foreigner is found anywhere. Someone talked about the difference between being a black American in Britain, and then being African.

They mentioned how Africans are not seen as British and people treat anyone with black skin (even Americans, as if they do not belong). But the difference lies in the fact that the black American is NOT British and once it is discovered they are American, all of a sudden those who know will treat them a little bit better than the native born blacks and African immigrants of Britain. Why? Because a tourist from another country (especially another continent), means money. At least that is the rationale used in all countries when it comes to tourism.

The perpetual foreigner isn't extreme racism, but it is an aggravating one. It usually derives from peoples own ignorance about America and what an American is. A minority (even blacks) will face this more than a white person ever will. Blacks are not seen as Americans, but very few times do people question if they were born in America. Unless they looked too exotic to be "black".

Yet they, like the Asians, Blacks get similar comments like "go back to your country (insert things such as China, Japan, Africa)" and things such as "you speak english so well" (this alludes to broken English (for Asians) and Ebonics (for blacks)).