During a discussion about racism on The News Hour (PBS) a guest commentator....

[RussellCattle]

....said that it is racist when you ask someone "where are you from?", if they appear to be foreign in speech or appearance. How do you feel about this? I ask the question all the time because it gives me the opportunity to learn about other people and the places that they have come from. Most immigrants, I think, love their home countries and enjoy telling you about them. I'll admit that I have very occasionally been met with some hesitancy, but I usually say something like "I hope that we've made you feel welcome" and don't believe that I've offended anyone.

[pangaia]

1. Do you ask that question to pale white people? That would be telling...

And HOW you mean the question...

[RussellCattle]

5. Yes, particularly if they have a Norwegian accent. It would be rude...

....to just ask "Are you from Minnesota?"

[pangaia]

19. I think asking if they were from Minnesota would be a hoot...

[RussellCattle]

22. On further consideration, you are absolutely right. Rude? What was I thinking.

[MicaelS]

18. Sure, especially...

Since I am very interested in other cultures. I want them to know not all Americans are assholes who voted for Trump. Met some really nice people on the bus by doing just that.

[Blue_true]

24. Yes. I try to guess the accent and ask whether they are from a certain country. nt

[True Dough]

2. I ask that question of many people regardless of what they look like

It's a big country. Some have relocated from the south, north, east or west. If I ask someone who is of a different ethnicity where they're from and they say, "California," I accept that. I don't persist with, "No, where are you really from?" That's crossing the line, for sure.

Then again, I often ask people what they do for a living and some etiquette experts eschew that question as well.

I'm too nosy, I guess.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Might depend on how you ask, I guess...

When "origins" come up in normal conversation, I can see where it could be just that. But if it is offered in a confrontational way, it's rude. It's been my experience that people will often share where they are from if you show a genuine interest in getting to know them.

[RussellCattle]

7. Bingo! That's it exactly.

[uponit7771]

21. +1

[marble falls]

4. Context is what makes that question racist or not.

[marybourg]

6. I have to agree. I never ask anyone where they're from -

prefering to just think of them as another American - unless they seem to invite the question by a reference to a native country.

[spanone]

8. Do you think don trump is wanting the four congresswomen to 'feel welcome'?

[OregonBlue]

9. I agree with you. If a person has an obvious accent,

I always ask them where they are from. Most people are happy to talk about their country good or bad. Asking a follow up like what part of the country is that in or what is the climate like there shows actual interest.

We can't become so paranoid that we stop showing interest in others. We should not buy into the racists meme.

[LanternWaste]

10. Depends on intent and sincerity

If I asked AOC which country she came from, I'm obliviously being less than sincere and attempting an implication.

If I ask a dinner guest where they are from simply because I'm curious and nosy, I doubt it's racism.

As in all things, we often hide our intent behind a veil of sincerity and implication. Simply allow the context, the surrounding, the people and the situation specific to the question to guide you.



Thankfully, only half-wits, racists and hacks believe Idiot tRump's "go back where you came from" anything other than what it is. Racism.

[Sanity Claws]

11. I think there are regional differences

In New York City, I think it is quite acceptable to ask that.

I lived for a while in Washington State and it didn't seem to be acceptable to ask that there.

[maxsolomon]

20. I ask it all the time.

Hardly anyone in Seattle is a native any more.

In Chicago I asked my cabbie if he was Nigerian and took a shot at pronouncing his name. He was impressed I got it right, and we proceeded to have a great conversation about Nigerian music and per-capita weed consumption.

As my shrink used to say, it's the "manner with which".

But I'm a racist, so...

[Phoenix61]

12. I live in an area with few locals and many, many

who are visiting, live here part time or moved here later in life. It’s very accepted to ask where someone is from. Lots of great “Really!, I’m from about an hour from there”

[hlthe2b]

13. Arguably this was not an issue until the attempt to demonize immigrants as "the other"...

Now, of course, it is going to be met with skepticism as to your motives in asking.

Even as little as a few years ago, I don't think it would or not to the same extent.

[Hortensis]

14. :) Imo attitude and intent are at least 99% of it.

Imo your attitude is fine and keep it up, but this person's has raised my eyebrows.

At very least this person's reactionary attitude demonstrates lack of insight and rather mean-spirited tunnel thinking. Some people just have a dark view of humanity that a few billion just don't deserve.

But all too often someone who ascribes very bad attitudes to others on flimsy excuses like this is actually himself expressing bigotry against the entire group he's smearing, not merely inability to put himself in the minds of others. Not everyone who believes he's an expert on bigotry in others is capable of recognizing it in himself. Or cares to be honest about it if he does.

[GeorgeGist]

15. Where was this guest commentator from?

[RussellCattle]

17. I'm sorry but I just don't remember. I think, in typical PBS fashion, the two commentators were ....

.....academics or writers, sociologists who had studied and written about racism, or some such credentials not found on Fox news.

[RobinA]

16. I Do Not Ask This Question

because I am a white person, and as such I refuse to discuss anything having to do with any race in order to avoid being called racist. It's just too loaded anymore. My observation is that white people at the moment cannot do anything right in this discussion unless they say what nonwhites want them to say, so I do not engage.

I do not feel that asking someone who is obviously from somewhere non-US is racist, it'a an attempt to understand and get to know the person. We have a family friend who came from Germany immediately after her city was burned to ashes during the war. She speaks perfect English, very accented. She has been asked for decades, and still is asked, where she is from. People want to know, they are curious about her because she obviously has different experiences than they do.

I have a college friend who was born here of Chinese parents. Back when I met her it was OK to ask people about themselves, so from time to time I would ask about her experiences. At the time I would have thought it was weird if I didn't, because asking questions used to mean you cared enough about the person to want to know about them. Now it seems people take offense. It's become too fraught to bother. I asked the same kind of questions of my friends who went to Catholic school, my friend who lived in Okinawa because her father was in the military, and my cousin who spent time in the Bering Straits with the military. Nowadays I'd probably ask my white friends questions, but not friends of a different race.

[RussellCattle]

23. Nobody wants to be called a racist. Not even the true racists. But please let me...

suggest that you reconsider your position. I would think that to fight racism we have to talk about race, and to "refuse to discuss anything having to do with any race" is probably not helping.