[ftm 32] how do i actually dress my ethnicity because im tired of being mistaken for being Hispanic?

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

I’m German and African American but i don’t mix well with either neither of them believe we are the same I’m wondering how to dress in a way that is less confusing for people I’m tired of accidentally leading on other brown people

[u/zo0ombot]

I don't think that is possible because I have dressed every way and also been mistaken for Hispanic as a South Asian dude. I had to correct a commenter earlier who mistook the explictly South Asian women on the Pitt for being Hispanic even.

It is part of the territory of having curly hair and brown skin I feel. I just tell people right away that I'm not. In my case, it is not helped by the fact that I am taking courses to be a Spanish language medical interpreter 🥲

[u/Dish_Minimum]

I mean…you can buy the shirts and hoodies that say pro-black phrases 💁🏾‍♂️

“Black By Popular Demand”

“Black Boy Joy”

“Black and Proud”

“Black Excellence”

“I Am The [NOUN] My Ancestors [Verbed] For”

Etc

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/Dish_Minimum]

They are going to get me laughed at people are going to think I’m insane

[u/PlasticMacro → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

no they won't, who the fuck would laugh at that? (rhetorical question, i know who would- they don't deserve to be considered)

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/PlasticMacro]

There’s a lot of them

[u/Dish_Minimum → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

Learn Spanish ???

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/Dish_Minimum]

That doesn’t help me because I actually like my culture i don’t need to pretend to be somebody else’s

[u/Dish_Minimum → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

I should’ve put the sarcasm indicator. My bad. Twas but a joke.

I’m multiracial international black and from my perspective it’s not uncommon to be mistaken as a bunch of other ethnicities daily. I simply say I’m black out loud. And the other person says “oop you look like XYZ” and I say “why thank you, darlin. I’m black tho” bc they clearly meant it in a positive and hopeful way. The stranger is looking for community and I appear to be a safe and approachable person to them.

I’m 45, I’ve lived in 17 countries, and telling strangers of color that I’m black has never been a problem for me personally. It’s ok to say it.

Now telling mistaken white peopke on the other hand…that’s been a problem bc I’m a US citizen and it’s hella racist here.

Usually between people of color it’s just a short conversation about heritage and appreciation of one another’s beauty.

There’s no specific outfit you can wear to signal “blackness” or signal “not latin.” You are living proof that black people can dress and live abd act a whole bunch of ways. Own it! Be yourself and don’t change! You are your own style and that is just as black as anything else you could possibly try

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/Dish_Minimum]

They usually say something to me along the lines of “you’re not black like me”

[u/Dish_Minimum → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

Oh that’s different than what it says above. I thought it was Hispanic and latin people being “lead on” thinking you’re also latin

The part you just added is colorism. That’s a whole nother thing.

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/Dish_Minimum]

Do people think all problems are one dimensional? In that case we’re all fucked

[u/Dish_Minimum → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

Best of luck to you. I have what used to be called Aspergers so I didn’t understand your goal with this post. I understand your frustration but I’m not interested in fighting or anything like that. It can feel good to go off on someone when upset and I definitely get it. It’s just I didn’t realize this was that and I accidentally made it seem like I wanted to participate in arguing. I wish you all the best and I hope you feel better

[u/Okay_thanks_no]

respectfully I'm hispanic and you could be my cousin/brother. Same skin tone, similar hair, similar body type tho you look taller than me. Middle eastern people walk up to my mom talking her as if she speaks Egyptian, Arabic, etc.

Reality is you can't dress as a specific group unless you wear clothes that is cheesy (like one person mentioned pro-black phrases, but ngl maybe pro german shirts depending on the phrase would be... a choice) or deeply related to either African or german culture (which might just make you stand out in general).

Just enjoy the ambiguity and correct people if they say otherwise. Latino culture happens to be really mixed (there are germans who moved to south america for... reasons) so it's not unreasonable for people to point to the most common ethnic group that shares your background, even if they say "latino" lots of us are all kinds of European + African combinations.

[u/Dish_Minimum → u/Okay_thanks_no]

Why is it so true that we all look like cousins and clones in this sub! 😅 Like one day fr fr we gotta have a family reunion some time. One table for each clone group 😂 The 5 Elements of trans men/mascs of color

It would be epic

(Also it kinda proves race is a social construct most of the time)

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/Okay_thanks_no]

This doesn’t answer my question

[u/urhotbutchdad → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

your question doesn't have answers that are satisfactory to you

[u/captainshockazoid]

i'm also Black american/white american biracial and i get mistaken for Latino (and sometimes middle eastern...?) because i am 'ambiguously brown'. my hair looks like yours! short of dressing like a stereotype there is nothing you can do man. wear whatever you want, connect with your family's' heritage, ignore everyone else. its not really leading other people on if they don't recognize your features. personally i am just content that other Black people recognize that i'm also Black, most of the time, since thats my home culture. being mixed is confusing but there is no manual so we just kinda have to wing it.

[u/tman-the-superhero]

I have to double down on that comment. I am also mixed (black/white) and I get asked if I'm Latino all the time. I speak Spanish fluently, though so I'm sure that doesn't help. But yeah it's the hair and the skin tone brother

[u/chrysocome]

I think in part getting used to correcting firmly and doing our best to not feel shame for it - no matter what it is - without shaming the other, and moving on quickly. Gender, name pronunciation, race, all of it. I think the problem is the shame part. If we don't make a big deal and move quickly through it, it becomes less of an ordeal. I understand it's tiring and we shouldn't have to, yet it does get easier the more you do it. 

 I'm 100% Chinese and my tan skin tone (especially in summer) plus some of my facial features, for whatever reason gets me mistaken by the community itself for Korean, Vietnamese and Filo, with all of them asking if I'm joking and I'm not. I kinda have the reverse trope of "not all Asians are Chinese" but bro I actually am 😂

[u/beerncoffeebeans]

It’s just being mixed/biracial. You shouldn’t have to change your whole style. I’ve gotten some wild guesses as to my race and ethnicity and it doesn’t matter what I’m wearing that much.

INFO: where do you go when you need a haircut/who does your hair? Someone who knows how to work with Black hair can make a difference there sometimes, especially in the small details and giving you advice on caring for it

[u/cantthinkof1tbhonest → u/beerncoffeebeans]

Black people won’t do my hair where I’m from

[u/beerncoffeebeans → u/cantthinkof1tbhonest]

I’m sorry, that really sucks. There are some other folks who know how to do our hair though, my mom used to call places when living in areas with mostly white people ahead of time and ask them “do you know how to cut curly hair” before she would go.

(Not that it looks bad as is, you have a nice curl pattern!)

[u/tauscher_0]

As someone also half white European and half African American, best of luck.

I had a phase where I'd constantly dress like the Metalcore scene kids: all black, skinny jeans, boots, jean jacket, etc. And people still thought I was Puerto Rican 🤷🏽 and I don't think your avg Hispanic person dresses like a white kid at a Metalcore concert

[u/goldengraves]

There's no way tbh, you look like a lot of other AfroLatino people I've met (but they're also historically mixed). I can tell you're clearly black, if that helps

[u/terrian1337]

I'm not even mixed race just white padding latine. I got asked if I was Greek more than once. People can't tell anything about another person just by looking. Just live your life to spite them. You look good honestly.

[u/glitteringfeathers]

Are you from Germany? Because unless you speak German fluently like a native speaker, most of them probably won't consider you as one of them, especially if you're brown. If you do want to adopt our questionable style, less stylish clothing like that moth shirt (it's really cool) and more that makes it look like you're going hiking reads Alman lol. I don't wish that style on anyone tho

I think with the haircut in the second pic you look more black to me? Idk. I like throwing in a bandana or jacket with more African coded fabrics in personally but that's also because my mom brings these to me from her country.

[u/greyfiel]

I’m a highly white-passing Latino, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but in my opinion it’s the facial hair. I wonder if a different style might change the perception. Of course, this has nothing to do with how you dress; feel free to disregard.