Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Racially Ambiguous



Today i received a text from a friend in one of my classes. She started off by asking if it was okay if she asked me a kind of weird question. Of course i was intrigued and insisted that she ask me. Her question was: What is your ethnicity? I chuckled lightly to myself not because i thought it was a weird question but quite the opposite. I have been asked this very same question on a fairly regular basis. Before i tell people "what i am",  i always like to have them give me a guess. Over the years i have racked up quite the amount of racial guesstimates. To be honest my ambiguity has been a peculiar trait for me over the years especially within the context of my travels. No matter where i go i can almost always blend into the crowd whether it be South America or somewhere in Asia.
Below are listed a few of my racial guesstimates
  • Mexican
  • Russian 
  • Thai
  • Native American 
  • Chinese 
  • African American 
  • Spanish
Somehow i have managed to encompass the globe in my face. Perhaps i should be the spokesperson to instigate world peace...



3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Ryleigh,

I really enjoy reading your blogs. I'm kinda addicted to blogs. But only good ones ;)

I have a "white" friend who is constantly mistaken for being Asian or Hispanic. I've never thought about it as making is easier to blend into other cultures, I'll have to tell her.

Keep traveling, you're awesome!
Elizabeth S.

Nancy said...

WHAT? Why didn't I know about this business. It seems like it would have been an Allred family dinner topic for sure. I can just picture Amy and I saying, "Hmm. Yes, I can see Argentinian, but what about Iranian?" And then Amy going on and on about how she was once mistaken for an Iranian. How is it that this conversation has never occurred? Yes, you should be the world peace spokesperson.

Perla said...

this is very interesting. i can see why there'd be confusion. olive skin, brown hair, big brown eyes, yet with the allred trait of turning to little half moons when you smile...interesting!