# Was this racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128 "2003-10-13T05:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/21 "2003-10-14T17:05:09Z")
does the caucasian’s father’s child look at all caucasian/eurasian? if not it might be some kind of complex from having the child not look like him? ---
**Author:** ![Amethyst\_Autumn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Amethyst\_Autumn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amethyst_Autumn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/22 "2003-10-14T18:37:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shijinn \* > \*\*does the caucasian’s father’s child look at all caucasian/eurasian? if not it might be some kind of complex from having the child not look like him? \*\* His sons look like a combination of him and his wife. They have some Caucasian features and some Asian features. I actually had to go double check Christmas cards they’ve sent us to determine this because I’ve only seen the kids in person about three times before. The person in question lives in another state and only returns here once or twice a year to see his family. I’m not really sure if this problem is confined to race. I see my niece every other month or so. I often have to look very closely at her and her first cousin to determine who is who. Both of them have brown hair and brown eyes. They were born less than a month apart. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/23 "2003-10-14T22:53:03Z")
That guy needs a kick in the ass, and I’ve got just the foot to give it to him. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/24 "2003-10-14T23:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarmaComa \* > \*\*I recall hearing on that TLC: The Human Face special, or whatever it was, that it’s an accepted anthropological fact that we have difficulty telling apart people of a different race. Sorry, no cite. \*\* I have a hard time believing that to be the case for someone raised in a multiracial society. For a person who spent the majority of their formative years in a racially homogenous area (where they were a member of the supermajority), maybe. But I would doubt that someone who has been around people of a race other than theirs for their whole life is going to find it difficult to distinguish between people of a that race. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/25 "2003-10-15T02:39:22Z")
**amarinth** , I’ve lived around white people my whole life. I never had a hard time distinguishing the white kids in grade school because they were folks I had known for a long time. However, once I got to college I found myself confused all the time. It was especially hard for me to differentiate white males since at my particular school they were dressed more uniformally than the white girls. I was in this program with all black kids one summer, and it seemed like all of the light-skinned kids (we were the minority) kept getting lumped together. When our names weren’t being mismatched, we were asked if we were related. So even within a “race” this kind of thing happens. The guy in the OP is just being overly sensitive. I imagine he’s on hyper-alert because he’s aware his children are minorities and will have to sometimes endure racial slights. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/26 "2003-10-15T04:40:29Z")
Ugh I have to put in another vote for "what a jerk. Ten years ago all my couzins had kids at the same time and they were all different, I can see that now, but for a long time it was impossible for me to tell any of them apart. It wasn’t a question of mixing up their names, I couldn’t remember which kid belonged to which couzin. And I was trying very hard to remember. He was way out of line implying that you’re some sheltered white jerk just because you were unable to distinguish his kid from another brunette blur running around. You should have said something like, “oh all yuppie kids look the same to me but I’m sure your little Connor is a unique snowflake.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/27 "2003-10-15T22:45:12Z")
I certainly wouldn’t say you were being racist, but I’d also cut the guy some slack…he’s probably sensitive about it. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/28 "2003-10-16T10:38:01Z")
HE was being ignorant by ignoring the fact that some people do, in fact, look similar. It’s NOT a stereotype. I get my kids names messed up all the time, of course you’re going to confuse a group of “asian-looking” kids with each other. How silly. He’s a Dope!!! ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128/29 "2003-10-16T10:49:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Forbin \* > \*\*My name, according to my parents is, “(oldest brother’s name), I mean (middle brother’s name), whatever the hell your name is.” > Yes; I’m actually referred to as “Whatever the Hell your name is”. > These are my parents, and they love me dearly. Why should you have to know which child is his? > I say you didn’t do anything racist. \*\* My Mom does this, we call it ‘Calling the Role’. It’s funny, she calls me by my brother’s or father’s name occasionally, but not often, but if she spends time with any other male relations, or even talks about them with someone, I’ll usually get called somebody elses name the first time for weeks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-racist/207128.md?page=1)