History Main / MistakenForForeigner

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' (which takes place during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII), a number of American [=POWs=] are liberated from a Nazi prison camp and one of them (Dugan) stumbles upon a Japanese man.
-->'''Dugan:''' We taking ''anyone'' with us, now?\\

* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NMrqGHr5zE Mississippi Delta Chinese]]" are the descendants of migrant workers who moved to the DeepSouth after UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar due to the...job openings after the slaves were freed. This is an Asian-American community that has lived in the United States for generations, in a part of the country not commonly associated with Asians. One of the people interviewed in the linked video is a woman with a charming Southern accent, having been born and raised in Mississippi, and yet she ''constantly'' has people asking when did she move to the US and who taught her English.

* In ''Series/ModernFamily'', Mitch and Cam take Lily to the doctor after she gets injured. The doctor is Asian, and Cam makes several clumsy (if harmless) remarks and gestures, only for her to repeatedly remind him that she's from Denver.

* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NMrqGHr5zE Mississippi Delta Chinese]]" are the descendants of migrant workers who moved to the DeepSouth after Emancipation due to the...job openings. This is an Asian-American community that has lived in the United States for generations, in a part of the country not commonly associated with Asians. One of the people interviewed in the linked video is a woman with a charming Southern accent, having been born and raised in Mississippi, and yet she ''constantly'' has people asking when did she move to the US and who taught her English.

This trope is when a person of color is automatically assumed to be from the country of their ethnic origin ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures or someplace vaguely close to it]]), even though their speech, dress, and body language reflect the country they call home because that's where they were born and raised. A common example would be an Asian-American being asked where they're from, asked about an aspect of an Asian culture ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures whether it's their own or not]]), or is assumed to not speak English, only for them to curtly respond in a plain American accent, "Dude I'm from [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philly]]."

* While [[https://youtu.be/R6EHLR6q-tM?t=4m48s reading comments]] on his channel, LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} was taken aback by "Mark! Are you going to America soon?" He was born in Hawaii, grew up in Cincinnati, and currently resides in LA.

* In ''Film/TheNakedGun 33 1/3'', Frank and Jane uncover a terrorist plot to blow up the Academy Awards, but when they run outside to tell a cab driver to call the police, he only speaks Arabic. They go to the next one but he only speaks Spanish. They come to a third one, an older African man in a turban, at which point they don't even bother and head back inside. Once they leave, the cabbie says in a posh British accent, "I wonder what the devil they wanted..."

* In ''Film/{{Crash}}'', Graham cuts short a conversation with his mother on the phone because he's "having sex with [his] Mexican girlfriend." This [[WhatTheHellHero offends his girlfriend]]; neither of her parents are from Mexico and she herself was born and raised in California. Plus, she was disgusted that he spoke to his mother that way. Needless to say, it all killed her mood to continue having sex with him.

This trope is when a person of color is automatically assumed to be from the country of their ethnic origin ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures or someplace vaguely close to it]]), even though their speech, dress, and body language reflect the country they call home because that's where they were born and raised. A common example would be an Asian-American being asked where they're from, asked about an aspect of an Asian culture ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures whether it's their own or not]]), or is assumed to not speak English, only for them to curtly respond in a plain American accent, "Dude, I'm from [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philly]]."

* Primo Colon mistook Curt Hawkins and Wrestling/ZackRyder for Canadians because they served as body doubles for Wrestling/{{Edge}}, who ''was'' Canadian.

* Dina in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' has been unable to get an autism disgnosis because the doctors her parents take her to all said that her apparent neurodivergency is just because English isn't her first language. Not only did she grow up in the US with English as her first language ''so did her parents''.

This trope is when a person of color is automatically assumed to be from the country of their ethnic origin ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures or someplace vaguely close to it]]), even though their speech, dress, and body language reflect the country they call home because that's where they were born and raised. A common example would be an Asian-American being asked where they're from, asked about an aspect of an Asian culture ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures whether it's their own or not]]), or is assumed not to speak English, only for them to curtly respond in a plain American accent, "Dude, I'm from [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philly]]."

This trope is when a person of color is automatically assumed to be from the country of their ethnic origin ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures or someplace vaguely close to it]]), even though their speech, dress, and body language reflect the country they call home because that's where they were born and raised. A common example would be an Asian-American being asked where they're from, asked about an aspect of an Asian culture ([[InterchangeableAsianCultures whether it's their own or not]]), or is assumed not to speak English, only for them to curtly respond in a plain American accent, "Dude I'm from [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philly]]."

* An Australian television ad (I can't remember what for) had a father cooking something Asian on the barbecue for his daughter's university friend, an Asian girl. He asked her where she was from, only for her to reply in an Australian accent "Ballarat".

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the kids time-travel to the early 1900's and their new allies mistake Nico for a Chinese immigrant; she corrects them that her family is Japanese but she herself was born in California.

* A recent story from the UK has two hijab-wearing women chatting on a bus. A man turns to them and tells them that, since they're in Britain, they should speak English. Another woman nearby curtly informs him, "You're in Wales, and they're speaking Welsh."

->''"I can't go back to my 'home country.' I was born and raised in San Francisco, I'm IN my home country!"''