X @)x I can be from wherever I want to be » Why you shouldn't ask a person of colour ‘where they are from’ Roshni Riar Staff Writer « H where are you from?” an ignorant yet curious stranger asks me. I respond as I always do, saying, “Thompson, Manitoba.” “No, but really...” is the reply I’m faced with. “Yeah, really,” I confirm my initial answer, awaiting inevitable confusion. At least once a week, | find myself in a situation like the one I've just played out above. I have to admit, it is pretty amusing to see the panic in the asker’s eye when they don't know how to process what I’ve just told them. Not expecting such a plain, meat-and-potatoes backstory, the reaction that I often get is a set of quizzical eyes scanning my face, lingering on my brown not knowing the history behind their skin? What about someone who grew up in foster care, or whose family has someone adopted in—will their answers not prove sufficient? Is unearthing some kind of unresolved trauma or conflict worth quelling someone else’s curiosity? I certainly don’t think so, and what’s worse is that people often don’t even consider these critical and valid concerns when broaching the topic. It’s even harder to handle these C66 Your race shouldn't need to live up to someone else's expectation. skin, trying to place my apparently “racially ambiguous’ features. Asking a person of colour where they're from is insensitive for a number of reasons. It’s incredibly assumptive to think that the person being asked even knows “where they’re from,” in the context of how that question is generally framed. What if they don't know? Will they still be challenged then, just because it’s hard to comprehend a person of colour Astrology is fup, but it's bullshit —_ \Q There are better things than MBscopes to dedicate your life to Jessica Berget Opinions Editor C™ Sagan once said this about astrology: “It pretends to satisfy our longing to feel personally connected to the universe.” I know how fun it is to read horoscopes. | read mine, along with my friends’ and family’s (and occasional love interests’), whenever I get my hands ona newspaper. It’s fun to think about how your future is destined by celestial shapes and that your personality is all based on the stars in the sky on the day you were born. However, because astrology has no real basis in science or fact, that’s all it is—just a bit of fun. Horoscopes are often written so vaguely that they can apply to anyone. If kinds of interactions when the inquiring party comes into the conversation with a preconceived idea of the response they're going to get, expecting nothing less than an exotic tale of a faraway land where monkeys work cash registers and everyone rides an elephant to school. Your race shouldn't need to live up to someone else’s expectation. It’s okay to challenge a stereotype. In fact, I encourage it. I’m never sorry to disappoint others with my you read any horoscope without looking at which sign it is under, it’s impossible to tell which one it is for because they are so general. | ama vibrant Leo, which means— according to astrology—I am warm, big-hearted, headstrong, dominating, lazy, egotistical, and love receiving attention, among other things. While this may be true about some aspects of my personality, not all of the traits are representative of me or all people born under the Leo star sign. These are characteristics that can apply to practically anybody. If that isn’t enough to discredit astrology as a science, think about how NASA has already proven that it’s a hoax. In 2016, they stated there is a 13th sign that hasn't been accounted for: Ophiuchus. When the Babylonians developed their zodiac signs and lined them up with Have an idea for a story? M opinions@theotherpress.ca Manitoban origin story. I—as well as many other people of colour—was born somewhere that isn’t where my race originates from. Shocking, I know. Thompson is my hometown, and lidentify with it because | spent half my life there. That is where I’m from, yet my answer is something that people have a hard time understanding. People think I'm joking or trying to be smart when I tell them I’m from Manitoba. They laugh too loudly, then look at me expectantly, waiting for the nostalgic storytelling to begin. My skin colour shouldn't automatically predetermine where I might consider my home, and while my answer shouldn't need to prove that, it does. More than anything, I often wonder why the question is even asked of people of colour. What benefit does it serve the person asking? Will the answer change anything? If it does, does that make them racist? It’s hard to say, but the implicit racism that fuels this type of inquiry is constellations three millennia ago, they already had a 12-month calendar. To fit this calendar they divided the zodiac into 12 parts, ignoring Ophiuchus. Furthermore, the Babylonians assigned equal amounts of time for the sun to line up with each constellation, when in reality each constellation is a different shape and size. This means that each one lines up for a different length of time, despite what astrology says. According to NASA's website SpacePlace, “The line from Earth through the Sun points to Virgo for 45 days, but it points to Scorpius for only seven days.” Because each astrological sign is based on being born ina specific timeframe, and NASA has proven that these timeframes aren't as conveniently synced as astrology says, I think it’s fair to say that astrology isn’t even real, much less ¢ | can be from wherever | want to be ¢ Astrology is fun, but it's bullshit ¢ Rants in your pants e¢ ..and more! undeniable. It’s only ever asked of people of colour, and their answers are never good enough if they don’t meet a pre-set quota of foreignness. Some people will go out of their way to prove their race, which they shouldn't need to do. Others like myself will try to avoid the topic altogether, which can come off as detached. It feels like people of colour cant just be; they have to reject their race if they're told it’s not good enough or lean into it with everything they've got, creating a suitable caricature for those around them. “Where are you from?” It isn’t anyone’s business. If I don’t want to provide you with a full breakdown of my racial identity, then I wont. I shouldn't need to give you details because it’s my identity being examined. “But what if the person I’m talking to wants to share their background?” You know how you'll know if they want to share? They'll actually go ahead and tell you, rather than waiting for you to pry. “ a al Pl al Pe oe = scientific. Finally, ancient astrologers invented the 12 signs of the zodiac 3,000 years ago. Because it’s been so long, the sky has shifted because the Earth’s axis now points in a different direction (or so it has been explained to me on NASA's website). Thanks to this shift, everyone's sign should be one constellation earlier. This indicates that almost everyone has been reading the wrong horoscope all this time, proving that astrology is a complete hoax. Astrology may be bullshit, but it gives people reassurance that their lives are already mapped out in the stars and there is nothing anybody can do to change it. Life is already so strange and terrifying, so I understand people wanting to make sense of it any way that they can—as long as you don't take it too seriously.