Article content

A seemingly innocuous question has become contentious.

“Where are you from?” has turned into a multicultural minefield. What some used to consider a basic curiosity has become politicized.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Douglas Todd: Is it OK to ask, 'Where are you from?' Back to video

Activists and a number of scholars have added “Where are you from?” to the list of phrases they judge as “micro-aggressions,” which they define as inadvertent slights that can do lasting psychological damage.

Asking someone about their place of origin seems to be especially loaded in Metro Vancouver and Toronto, where a minority of the population is white and almost half is born in another country.

Given such cosmopolitan contexts, one would think asking “Where are you from?” could be a helpful way to get to know a fellow human being. But things are not that straightforward.

I recently conducted informal surveys of friends, family and colleagues and found roughly half, regardless of ethnicity or migration history, are OK with the question. Another half are wary of it.