this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2024
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I've said it before, people in the US do this because they're copying their parents. Their parents and grandparents did this because it was actually very relevant information. People held on to their cultures, and you could tell a decent amount about someone by their particular ethnic background - attitudes, practices, religion, zip code, and broadly who they associated with.
I am not old, and my white grandparents had to be careful in white neighborhoods of other ethnicities - not just poorer ones, richer ones too. Some of their marriages were seen as sort of interracial. Some of their parents and grandparents had fled ethnic violence from other white people.
So this behavior got culturally ingrained for a lot of good reasons (as well as plenty of completely stupid reasons). Its dying out though. Being half/half or even 25/25/25/25 makes people feel like it might still matter, but no gen alpha kid is going "see the difference between you and me is im 3% this and 6 % that and 1.5% this and 3% that and 12% that and 6% that and..."
Good point, like my block is mostly 1st/2nd gen immigrant families and the question of what places your family is from or your “mix” (often abbreviated to “so what are you” lol) is like the second question my friends and neighbors here will ask you, right after your name and that’s considered normal and polite. If you don’t ask they will tell you anyway. By contrast I (4th gen) never think to ask that, not because it would be taken as othering, but because I’m simply not used to it being relevant or useful information. For my friends who grew up on this block though, clearly it was.