So I went to the hospital in Brooklyn, New York Community Hospital to be precise, the other day and I was asked my race. I had been there before but apparently the clerk was thrown off by the word “Asian”. She was like I don’t look Asian and gave me an attitude when she said that. I was taken aback and was like “Sure, I’m Asian.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to give her details about my background or a geography lesson. On the other hand the experience resounded with me. So what’s the definition of the word Asian. Dictionary.com defines it as “a native or inhabitant of Asia, or a person of Asian descent.”  The US consensus had the following definition:

Here is a map of Asia: 

Russia is on the map for Asia and yet I don’t think people from Russia identify themselves as Asian. A lot of Middle Eastern countries are in Asia and yet is it really the Middle East? Like Saudia Arabia,Iraq and Iran….. I have heard Egypt being considered part of the Middle East yet geographically its so apart from the former countries (Saudia Arabia, and Iran) mentioned. In this specific map even Turkey is considered to be Asian even though aren’t they a European country?

So the next question I would ask is would you be offended if someone asked you about you race and thought like in my case that you didn’t look  Asian. Would it bother you if you didn’t fit the norm of what’s Black or White enough? Like is there is a justification needed for where your originally from?