Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ethnicity

Let's go to Little Canada!

Korou — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:15:40 -0800

A few months ago I read about French-Canadian immigration into the U.S. from the 1840s to 1930s. Evidently, some of these immigrants established "Little Canadas." I'd like to learn more about them. Are they still established in some form, like Little Italys or Chinatowns? How did their culture change from when they lived in Canada to living in the U.S.? What resources cover this topic? (there are some sources mentioned on the page I read)

I had never heard about this type of immigrant community, and hadn't ever considered their existence. What other little covered, niche, or surprising immigrant groups came/are coming to the States?

How much science in genealogical DNA tests?

Devonian — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:50:50 -0800

Help me, MeFi geneticists! Commercial genealogy testing - all it seems? I've got a few questions about genealogical DNA testing - you know, the sort that purports to tell you about your ancestors in exchange for a large but affordable sum. This has been provoked in part by a relative of mine going in for one of the tests, and being very disappointed in the result, or at least as much of it as she understood. I've had a look too, and I can't work out how to check the promises by the companies nor, given that they're often run by academics still in place in universities, the academic nature of the science they use.

These tests apparently look for markers for single nucleotide polymorphisms on the y chromosome or mitochondrial DNA, places where there's variation between populations in humans. Supposedly these can show you shared a common ancestor with groups. But can they do all that's claimed - when a gene came into a country, or when a mutation occured, and if so to what precision? Can they identify a gene as belonging to group such as Irish, or Celtic, or whatever? And, perhaps most pressingly, how much of the promise of the commercial personal genealogical DNA testing industry is based on academically respectable and applicable work? Some of these places seem to offer quite detailed breakdowns of when and where a particular marker became important, and I don't understand how.

Any enlightenment or pointers thereto, much appreciated!

(I''ve read the previous Ask MeFi posts on this, but they don't seem to cover the above)

Terms for mixed race couples?

roaring beast — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:34:30 -0800

What are the most appropriate terms for referring to couples of mixed race/ethnicity? Multicultural? Mixed Race? Bicultural? Multiethnic? Just to clarify, I mean couples where the partners are different ethnicities, not that each one individually is mixed race. Please excuse me if I have used any of these terms in an offensive manner.

You can go to school, but you can't buy class

paperlanterns — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:56:43 -0800

I am interested in who/what/where of people with money that act with class. I saw posts for classy behavior, but I am curious about examples of people or groups that have a lot of money, but act with class. I guess it depends on how you define class. I can tell you what I don't think is classy, in my opinion. People who have a lot of money but are dripping head to toe with obvious name brands screaming at you (Chanel bag, Ed Hardy shirt).

I am also interested in stereotypes of groups considered classy or non-classy. For instance (and I could be wrong), the NY Times had this article on the Real Housewives of New Jersey yesterday. I've heard a lot of Italian-American groups who do not like the portrayal of "Italians with money" on TV (RHoNJ, Sopranos) b/c the general ppublic does not consider them to be classy.

For instance, is the stereotype of the Persians of Los Angeles considered classy? Or are they known to be only people who throw up the Persian palaces? How about rich Jewish people in New York? Chaldeans in California and Michigan?

Any examples of people in those groups with classy or non-classy behavior would be greatly appreciated. Apologies if this is chat-filter. I am just trying to get a sense of what gives certain groups that have money certain stereotypes.

Why couldn't my dad get married in 1940's Yugoslavia?

the luke parker fiasco — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:24:41 -0800

FamilyHistoryFilter: In Tito's Yugoslavia, in the latter half of the 1940's, what nationalities would two people have to have been to be denied permission to marry, and why? There's very little I know about my father's side of the family. A few of the things that I do know are: my father grew up in Slavonija (then Yugoslavia, now Croatia), between Osijek and the Hungarian border. His father was Austrian, his mother Yugoslav. His first child from his first marriage was born out of wedlock, because he and his first wife were not allowed to marry under Tito's regime.

My father died several years ago, and the only living memory left of that time is my great-aunt, who is now 91 years old and has the memory one would expect of someone that age. I'm trying to piece together what I can of my family history and ancestry, but it's difficult without having some basic facts. One thing I've heard a couple of times over the course of my life was that because of their nationalities, my father and his first wife couldn't get married in Yugoslavia, and had to wait until they left the country. If my father's parents were Austrian and Yugoslav, what ethnicity would his future wife have to have been in order for them to be denied the right to marry? Why was this done, and were there other ethnic groups who were in the same situation?

Both straight-up answers and directions to resources welcomed.

More than just attracted to difference?

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:54:22 -0800

Seeking advice and shared experiences from other people who are not attracted to people from their same racial/ethnic/national identity. I'm mixed. My parents, immigrants to the US, originally hailed from opposite ends of this earth. I (female) have never been attracted to men who are from either side of my parents ethnic/national identity. Never, ever.

I feel bad, like I'm not giving certain demographics a fair chance. Recently, a male friends of mine from x background shared that he is attracted to me. There's nothing really wrong with him, but it's as if I have some inability to feel sexual and/or romantic chemistry with men from either "side."

I've generally been attracted to a wide variety of backgrounds. Though, I am very frequently attracted to men who are mixed - perhaps its a shared experience of always straddling the in-betweens, and a feeling of sameness (of experience) through differences. I am, occasionally, attracted to men who share 1/2 of their background with my own - but it's because I see them foremost as mixed, rather than from a shared ethnic/racial/national identity.

But those that have "whole" backgrounds shared with one of my parents, I have never felt chemistry. No attraction. At all. Ever.

Does anyone have any reasons for why this is? I've occasionally heard of people experiencing similar - not being attracted to people of a same background - why is this? It is not as if I've had some terribly awful experience with people from either side; even from childhood, I had crushes on people from a variety of racial/ethnic/national backgrounds - just not on those where my parents were from.

How can I communicate to people that my lack of attraction to either "side" is not indicative of being a sell-out, racist, or evident of some kind of self-hatred?

I am not looking to change this, just merely ways of addressing this with other people ask, or kind ways of telling someone from either background that I am just not interested in them, and it is sincerely not personal or about them.

Why are middle eastern people categorized as "white"?

tumbleweedjack — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:14:26 -0800

Why do middle eastern people get lumped into the "white" category when asked to declare their ethnicity? Yes, technically, middle eastern people are "white," but so are most hispanic/latino people. And, with several million people of middle eastern origin, it seems like somebody would be interesting in counting them separately.

This question was inspired by the Daily Kos weekly poll's crosstabs. I was really curious to see Obama's ratings among middle eastern people, but there's no such information!

Please help me understand the ethnic/racial origin of the Japanese.

gregb1007 — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:49:39 -0800

Please help me understand the ethnic/racial origin of the Japanese. I really would like to know the ethnic history of the Japanese. Considering that some mingling of different tribes had to have happened on Japanese soil, I would like to know who these tribes were. The purpose of all this information is basically to be able to relate the Japanese ethnicity to other ethnicities because obviously the connection has to be there, though it's hard to establish because the Japanese have a very unique look to them.

Distinguish between ethnicities

markovich — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:28:08 -0800

Is there any website that shows the physical differences between the faces of people from different ethnicities? I'm interested in being able to identify the origin of a person based on his facial looks. This is of course difficult, but to a certain extent its possible. For example, I can distinguish between a Kenyan and a Ghanaian and I can distinguish between someone from Vietnam and from Indonesia. Is there any website that has a table of faces of people from different ethnicities and points out which features to look for to correctly place them?

What else is in this invisible backpack?

twirlypen — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:19:25 -0800

I'm a straight, white, upper middle class male. I'm aware that this automatically means I generally have an easier time than people with a different sexuality/race/class/gender. That said, I'm probably unaware of what these benefits are. What does this 'privileged' status do for me that I don't even notice? I've read Peggy McIntosh's 'Invisible Backpack', which was actually the reason for asking this question. It opened my eyes to a lot of the things my race does for me that I never realised, and led me to wonder what else I benefit from without realising. Hopefully, by being aware of these things, I can be more able to notice when they don't happen for other people.

I know the broad things- I can get married because I'm straight, on average I'll earn more because I'm male, etc. I'm interested in the smaller, daily things that go on without my noticing.

This is a very specific, and probably dumb quesiton, about John Bell

carpyful — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:40:01 -0800

WHTZ Z100 filter: What ethnicity is John Bell of the radio station, Z100, in New York? My girlfriend and I have this small bet on what ethnicity John Bell of Z100 is.

I don't know from where, but I've always heard that he was African-American. However, if you were to just look at his picture, it can be questionable.

I've searched and I can't find any hard evidence of his ethnicity.

Can anyone help clear this cheesy bet up?

Chinese ethnicity and assimilation?

geekhorde — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:45:44 -0800

I know that there was quite a bit of immigration from China in the late 1800s. My question is, have the descendants of those immigrants ethnically assimilated into the rest of 'white' America, or have they retained their ethnic identity throughout the 20th century to today? Most Chinese-Americans that I have met are more recent immigrants, so I have no idea.

Where do my curls come from?

sweetkid — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:57:26 -0800

I'm constantly told I don't "look like" my ethnicity...do I? I'm an Indian woman (ethnically--born here) , and have super curly, fine hair, not wavy, not slightly curly, but very curly. I also have small eyes, a little nose, and whatever else that often leads people to assume that I'm Hispanic, part black, or whatever else, and not Indian, which people usually associate with a curtain of dark hair,. huge eyes, and thin noses. I often get incredulous looks and a lot of " are you sure?" when I tell people I'm Indian, which is clearly ridiculous, and I often find myself gently telling people about stereotypes, etc, and also that my family comes from the Western coast, and the "typical" view of Indian people is actually more of a Northern look (in my opinion).

Nevertheless, where do my curls come from? I haven't noticed any other Indian women, ever, with hair like mine. I have a little English heritage, and no one in my family can tell me whether or not they had curly hair, but I'm a bit at a loss as to where I get this wild hair. Does anyone know of any group of Indians who has this hair, or are there Indians out there with this hair? It's also more brown than most Indian hair...

extra points for good comebacks for "you don't look Indian"

The lady in the tutti frutti hat

gauchodaspampas — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:01:03 -0800

Who are some iconic actors portraying races/ethnicities different from their actual heritage? I'm trying to think of a list of actors and actresses who are famous for portraying racial/ethnic stereotypes when they in fact they are questionably or are not even that race or ethnicity at all. The only two prominent examples I can think of right now are Carmen Miranda and Iron Eyes Cody. Carmen Miranda, or "the lady with fruit hat" always played characters from various latin countries, often Spanish speaking ones, even though she was actually raised in Brazil, and on top of that was born in Portugal. Iron Eyes Cody played hundreds of native american roles, most famously, "they crying indian" in the 70's environmental commercial. He was actually of Italian heritage. He did live his adult life as a native american, and was very much accepted as one, however. Can anyone think of any similar actors? I know there are many examples like this, for instance latinos playing roles as middle easterns and vice versa, but I'm mostly interested in the prominent, iconic figures.

Chinatown - would we fit?

fr0zen — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 10:55:54 -0800

Would to non-asians be comfortable in Chinatown? My boyfriend and I would love to move to Chinatown in Boston or Toronto. We love the culture and the atmosphere, but are a little worried about not being asian and living there. In some areas people are harrassed for not being the same ethnicity of those around them - would that happen to us? It doesn't seem likely, but I figured I'd ask here to find out exactly what to expect.

Demographic Data for Brazil

fucker — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:23:31 -0800

Does anybody know where (be it on the net or a certain book) I can get the (self-reported?) ethnic demographics of Brazil for every state? Wikipedia has this data for several states, but not all of them.

Is it wrong to use my ethnicity to get a job?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2006 11:48:40 -0800

MoralityFilter: Can I apply as a minority with out looking like an ass? Like most people in America, I am of mixed heritage. My grandfather was a black-cuban, but due to the gene pool lottery I am alabaster white with red hair. I wasn't raised in an environment where I experienced any prejudice, so my parents never let me apply for any minority scholarships or anything.

Many of the jobs I am applying for seem to be specifically trying to fill some sort of quota. Is there a tactful way to say "Hey! I'm hispanic!" . Not to be silly, but if I tan and don't straighten my hair I look much more hispanic, should I spray on some tan and dye my hair as dark as the rest of my family. I know this is weird. Sorry.

Culture and begging in America - is there a connection?

kenoshakid — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:17:34 -0800

More American urban sociology: I live in a city with a diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures. How come the only people I ever see begging for spare change are either white or black? Why do I never see asians or hispanics begging? Is this a real cultural phenomenon, or am I just making false conclusions based on a too-small sample size? If this is a real cultural phenomenon, what is its cause? Is it a matter of cultural pride, or are people less likely to give their money to someone who they percieve as possibly an immigrant?

The Soledad O'Brien Effect

chrominance — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:50:18 -0800

Say that interethnic breeding has created a homogenous-looking mixed-race human species in the far-flung future. What kind of effect would this have on biodiversity? Occasionally, during discussions of race relations and interracial marriage, someone will bring up such a future in conversation and call it an ideal solution: we've interbred so much that there's no longer any real distinction between races, visual or otherwise, and thus whatever conflicts we have related to visible minorities will simply crumble to dust. Then someone else will pipe up about how such a human race would become more vulnerable to disease or extinction because it no longer has the genetic diversity inherent in multiple races.

Ignoring the political aspects of the light brown future (because honestly that's a different subject altogether), does the genetic diversity argument make sense? Would we really be shooting ourselves in the foot if we blurred the divisions between ethnic groups to the point where they no longer existed? Or is genetic diversity independent from the notion of race/ethnicity?

Ethnicity and cellphone use

kenoshakid — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 07:22:14 -0800

I've noticed many hispanic youths in my neighborhood making use of their cellphone's "walkie talkie" feature. I have seen only a handful blacks doing this, and no whites or asians. Also, I've noticed several whites using their cellphones in a "hands free" fashion, employing some sort of earpiece/microphone. However, I have seen no blacks, asians, or hispanics doing this. So my question - are these real trends, or false conclusions based on my limited experience?

voices of colors?

lord_wolf — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:40:22 -0800

why do different races/ethnicities sometimes have different timbres to their voices? i was on the phone with a sales rep yesterday. he spoke with a pretty "flat" accent, but the timbre of his voice made me think he was asian. sure enough, after we spoke, i found out he was an asian-american.

the phone call got me to thinking about the qualities of a person's voice, and how you can frequently, though by no means always, guess someone's ethnicity or "race" by the timbre of their voice; and how sometimes, especially with singers, you can be in for quite a surprise when you see that the ethnicity suggested by their voice doesn't match that suggested by their physical appearance.

why is that? (and am i using "timbre" in the right way? i hope you all can figure out what i'm talking about....)

Ethnic maps?

scazza — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:09:02 -0800

1. Are there maps anywhere that show the geographical distribution of ethnicities and religions accross different regions? 2. Or, does a program exist where I could plug in preference for different feilds (example: religion, climate, geography) and it would spit out the closest region to such specifications? I would mostly apply this to Central Asia (the closest I have found is this, which I can't read, nor can I find the source map). I have a very good general idea, I know what exists over a large area of Asia, but specifically where? There has been a confluence of ethnicities and religions established over its history, joining Asian, Turkish, Russian, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu cultures. After researching countries individually, having studied the ancient history of the region, I can't get a handle on what actually exists today in specific locations. Kazakhstan, one of the many countries that comprises "Central Asia," reaches from the Caspian Sea to China, from desert to freezing temperatures, so where is what?

Out of Africa

BuddhaInABucket — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 21:02:02 -0800

EvolutionFilter: Regarding the out-of-africa theory and skin color. [mi] If we all came from Africa, why is it that such a large percentage of the world's population is light-skinned? I know that there are other places besides Africa where there are dark-skinned people, but why aren't we all still black? Is there some evolutionary advantage to being light-skinned?

Are native Hawaiians Native Americans?

BuddhaInABucket — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 10:41:51 -0800

When applying for college admission, are native Hawaiians considered native Americans?

What Ethnicity Can I Pass As?

sgt.serenity — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 06:12:45 -0800

obscure ethnicity needed............. i joined a scheme to train people in making films...
but heres the catch :

3. Diversity
Diverse Screen exists to address the under-representation of Black and ethnic minorities in the moving image industry and support those coming from minority ethnic communities. To ensure that we are fulfilling these aims please chose the category which best applies to you.

q Indian
q Pakistani
q Bangladeshi
q Any other Asian (please state)
q Chinese
q Black Caribbean
q Black African
q Any other Black (please state)
Any other ethnic group (please state)

As you can tell from my profile , i'm not especially chinese.
Are there any obscure ethnic groups i could pretend to be from ?

(apart from scottish of course)