Honest question here. It's something I avoid asking most of the time because I'm not sure whether or not it's appropriate, but would it be okay to ask, "where did your ancestors come from," or would that still be offensive to a multiracial person? It's not something that comes up regularly or anything, but occasionally I'll end up in conversation with someone who is multiracial and clearly another American and I'll think, "I wonder what their family story is? How did their predecessors get here? Where did they come from?" But I usually don't ask because I don't want to offend them.

Obviously I wouldn't just walk up to a stranger and ask them, I mean if I'm getting to know someone.

Edit: I should add that I'm white, but my family history is pretty weird, so I do like to hear about others' history regardless of their race, I just don't want to broach the subject where it might be a sensitive one.

Meanwhile my wife is from overseas. But because she's white, they'll quite happily let her know about all their xenophobia and racism, because they think she's one of them.

"Not you, you're one of the good ones" is trotted out constantly among those who suddenly remember who they're talking to.

because obviously you can’t be from anywhere in the states

try it with native american ancestory that is no longer native due to the pogroms in the 19th & 20th centuries; it doesn't matter that we were here first, we truly can't be from here anymore because nearly all of the ones who lived on this side of the border were genocided out of existence so now we have to get permission to live on the land we've been inhabiting for thousands of years.

the icing on this cake is pointing this out brands you a malcontent for doing so.

I lived in Tennessee for a few years. I've never been greeted so many times with "do you speak English?" Sometimes I'd just be like "nah!" And walk away.

That reminds me of the scene in Parks and Rec where someone asks where Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) is from. He responds Illinois. Then the person asks "but where are your parents from?" He responds "Georgia."

I really hate that racists have ruined a perfectly good question. I often want to actually ask people where in the US they're from, but I can't ask the straightforward "where are you from?" if the person isn't white because I know it can easily be interpreted as the racist version.

Instead I now ask "are you from [city we're in]?" to try to make it clear I'm assuming they're from the US.

My grandmother on my mother's side was Chinese-American. She and my grandfather met in Hawaii during WW2, and that's where my mom was raised, so we observed a lot of Hawaiian and Chinese traditions when I was growing up.

My grandfather on my father's side was raised Jewish by Romanian immigrants, but converted to Christianity, and my father eventually became an atheist. But we still occasionally celebrated certain Jewish holidays to honor his ancestors. My dad's mother was the child of German immigrants. She taught me to make some delicious German treats.

For my part, I pass completely as white (I'm a super pale ginger). But I'm proud of all my heritage, and my whole life I've hated questions on forms that ask me to pick one. If there's an "other" option or a "prefer not to answer" option, that's what I pick.

Ancestry isn't a box you check, it's a story you tell.

I always take the opportunity to mess with people who ask me that question.

Where are you from? - (a city in the US).
Where did you move from. - (an other city in the US).
Where where you born. - (a city in Europe).
Uhhh.... So uh.... I mean.... What's the... <starts sweating about a politely way to say, "the not-white part">

"where are you from?"
"Tennessee"
"No, I meant what country you originaly come from"

This is what happens when our leaders are a decade plus over retirement age.

People forget Bill and Obama were in their 40s, for some reason we just forgot we could run younger candidates

Kamala really should be the upper age range we look at for first term presidents. If everything goes well they're signing up for an 8 year commitment.

I can’t believe we’re not over all this trivial shit.

Maybe one day Dr.King's dream will come true.

I'm increasingly annoyed that it won't be during my lifetime, though.

Hopefully my kids will live long enough to see it happen.