Is the assumption of an Asian person speaking their 'native' language a prejudice and a form of racism?

[ad astra.]

This thread has intrigued me, as it is about how a Chinese person is taking Chinese B SL, and is worried about the fact that by taking Chinese B might hurt their chances of college admissions because of the assumption that "all Asian people speak their 'native' language", when in fact the person has only studied the language for 2 years. This is similar to how I was told by a SATs prep course trainer that if "you're name is 5 letters or less, you shouldn't be taking the Chinese SAT II".

I myself am Chinese and don't know the language at all, and have on several occasions experienced the same scenario where people immediately assume I know Mandarin and try and converse with me in it, despite the fact that I have only lived in an anglophone environment my whole life. This is frustrating, because as soon as someone finds out that I can't speak Mandarin, there is always this moment of shock, like it is taken for granted that because someone is Asian, it means that they can speak their 'native' language. Just because I am of Chinese descent, doesn't mean that I can speak Chinese, and that my 'native'/mother tongue language can't be English.

In my opinion, I think it is a prejudice because it is a pre-conceived notion against a person before you get to meet them. Maybe I'm a bit more biased because I have had personal experience, and the fact that I've noticed that this assumption generally only happens to Asians as one wouldn't normally assume that a blond and blue-eyed person could speak a Northern European language like Finnish, for example.

What are your opinions on this? Do you think that assuming an Asian can speak their 'native' language is a form of prejudice/racism, and why?

And why is it that this is assumption only made on Asians?

No offense intended, if I have offended anyone.

[Keel]

Yes I know what you mean as there are lots of people in a similar situation here at my school in Hong Kong which is an international school. Personally, I do not think that assuming that a person can speak their ‘native’ language is in any way a form of racism. It is merely the product of flawed inductive reasoning in which the person creates a rule in their mind that all ‘Chinese looking’ people can speak Chinese. They are then confronted by an American-born Chinese or British, Australian, Dutch (whatever) Chinese and they automatically assume due to their past experiences that this person is no different form all the other Chinese looking people they have met in the past i.e. they speak Chinese. To me racism is an act of hatred. I am quite sure that these people who assumed you can speak Chinese had no antagonistic motives at all. The shock is understandable too as the ‘rule’ that has been created in their mind somehow doesn’t work anymore. So their confrontation with you, in a sense, has ‘educated’ them.

I do not think the assumption is only made on Asians. It is interesting that you say ‘Asians’ but have only used a Chinese example. Naturally, I personally would expect any person wearing a kippah to speak Hebrew, any person wearing a turban to speak Punjabi, the blond blue eyed gentleman to speak a Scandinavian language ect. My friend is half Finnish half French and he only speaks English. I find it ‘amazing’ if not ‘strange’. The assumption comes not only from the correlation between appearance and language but also from the assumption that some form of your heritage has at least been past on to you (usually through parents) despite you not growing up in that particular country e.g. language (being a common one), food, hobbies, habits ect.

I am Eurasian, mother being Hong Kong Chinese, father being British and fortunately I can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Although maybe its ‘bad’ to assume someone can speak ‘this language’ because their heritage is ‘this’, but I always find that it is good to have some connection with your origins. I can speak Chinese quite well but my reading and writing isn’t great to be honest. But I find that the ability to speak Chinese has led me to understand Chinese culture, history and society. I don’t think being unable to speak a language of your ethnic origins is ‘bad’, you cannot determine the situation you grew up in, but I do think it is a disgrace if someone makes no effort whatsoever to make a connection with their origin, whether it be paying attention to the news in that particular part of the world, learning about its history or watching movies from there ect. (the list of things to connect is endless). I think heritage is very important in determining who you are.

I think it is bad that people create a consequence of the assumption as your SAT trainer has done so. That is outrageous. But I equally have no sympathy for those who are ignorant about their origins in every possible way.

[Gee :)]

Ohhh,well this intriguing! I saw the post and I find it shocking that universities would discriminate on the basis that a person wasn't that fluent in their native language. That to me defies logic.I would assume that the reason theyd do that is that they think someone who isnt fluent in their native language is in some way inferior to someone who is.

I can relate to you because I'm from Botswana and I struggle with my native language too.I speak with a british-american accent that I cant trace the origins of seeing as i've lived in Africa all my life. People often assume I'm american because of the accent because I'm expected to speak with an african accent.I get similar reactions so I think this is a global problem.I consider english my mother tongue because Im way more fluent in it but I dont tell people that because,like you say there's always the shock :| With that said,I have never thought of it as a prejudice per se.I will generalise and refer rather to the assumption,based on physical appearance, that people can speak their native language...

I find it annoying in general.It is a prejudice.But I would rather say its an expectation.In my culture its expected for children to learn their native language and I can understand why (preservation of culture through language).What I dont like is the judgment that comes when a person isnt fluent in their native language.I don't feel like its racist.I feel that its closed-minded.I hate when I feel like people are making negative assumptions about me just because of it and I would rather people just accepted me for who I am.The ability to speak english (way) better than one's native language shouldnt be held against anyone.

Thoughts?

(I'm sure someone can do a TOK presentation on this!)

[ad astra.]

Yes I know what you mean as there are lots of people in a similar situation here at my school in Hong Kong which is an international school. Personally, I do not think that assuming that a person can speak their 'native' language is in any way a form of racism. It is merely the product of flawed inductive reasoning in which the person creates a rule in their mind that all 'Chinese looking' people can speak Chinese. They are then confronted by an American-born Chinese or British, Australian, Dutch (whatever) Chinese and they automatically assume due to their past experiences that this person is no different form all the other Chinese looking people they have met in the past i.e. they speak Chinese. To me racism is an act of hatred. I am quite sure that these people who assumed you can speak Chinese had no antagonistic motives at all. The shock is understandable too as the 'rule' that has been created in their mind somehow doesn't work anymore. So their confrontation with you, in a sense, has 'educated' them.

I do not think the assumption is only made on Asians. It is interesting that you say 'Asians' but have only used a Chinese example. Naturally, I personally would expect any person wearing a kippah to speak Hebrew, any person wearing a turban to speak Punjabi, the blond blue eyed gentleman to speak a Scandinavian language ect. My friend is half Finnish half French and he only speaks English. I find it 'amazing' if not 'strange'. The assumption comes not only from the correlation between appearance and language but also from the assumption that some form of your heritage has at least been past on to you (usually through parents) despite you not growing up in that particular country e.g. language (being a common one), food, hobbies, habits ect.

I am Eurasian, mother being Hong Kong Chinese, father being British and fortunately I can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Although maybe its 'bad' to assume someone can speak 'this language' because their heritage is 'this', but I always find that it is good to have some connection with your origins. I can speak Chinese quite well but my reading and writing isn't great to be honest. But I find that the ability to speak Chinese has led me to understand Chinese culture, history and society. I don't think being unable to speak a language of your ethnic origins is 'bad', you cannot determine the situation you grew up in, but I do think it is a disgrace if someone makes no effort whatsoever to make a connection with their origin, whether it be paying attention to the news in that particular part of the world, learning about its history or watching movies from there ect. (the list of things to connect is endless). I think heritage is very important in determining who you are.

I think it is bad that people create a consequence of the assumption as your SAT trainer has done so. That is outrageous. But I equally have no sympathy for those who are ignorant about their origins in every possible way.

Yes, I agree with you about the racism bit. (Forgot to put that in the first post!) I don't think it's racism as there is no hatred involved in this scenario, even if prejudice is involved. The prejudice is not harsh enough, and I have not seen any scenarios where someone has intentionally used the fact that a person can't speak their 'native' language against them in a negative way and used against the person. It might have happened, though.

I'm sure there are other assumptions on other people, on how it is assumed they can speak their 'native' language (as Gee has demonstrated), but as I am Asian and Chinese, that is the only valid example I myself could offer, seeing as that is the only example I have personally experienced. Which is why I have only mentioned Chinese as an example in my first post. Also, I think it occurs more often to Asians as they are identified more easily (I don't go down the street trying to pinpoint where every white person's origins are in Europe), but this could be bias on my part seeing as I am Asian/Chinese and only have experiences on that.

There also is the topic on Third Culture Kids that plays a role in this. As you said, if one doesn't make the effort to actually understand their culture, I agree, it is disappointing. But what if the person didn't actually feel a connection to their country of origin? It is difficult to actually fully experience the language and the native culture if one doesn't live there and if their parents didn't live there, as well as identify with that culture; so in the end, one doesn't feel the need to learn the language and they don't identify with their country of origin. Heritage and identity I think aren't solely from where your ancestors are from, but from where you identify yourself to be in the most or where you consider 'home' to be. So you could say that I'm not really a 'native' of China anymore, as I have not lived there, nor my parents, and my grandparents have but only for a short amount of time. This effect, where someone doesn't identify with their ancestors' country, could be one of the reasons why one doesn't not know their grandparents' language.

[quote name=Gee ' timestamp='1302879636' post='110303]

Ohhh,well this intriguing! I saw the post and I find it shocking that universities would discriminate on the basis that a person wasn't that fluent in their native language. That to me defies logic.I would assume that the reason theyd do that is that they think someone who isnt fluent in their native language is in some way inferior to someone who is.

I can relate to you because I'm from Botswana and I struggle with my native language too.I speak with a british-american accent that I cant trace the origins of seeing as i've lived in Africa all my life. People often assume I'm american because of the accent because I'm expected to speak with an african accent.I get similar reactions so I think this is a global problem.I consider english my mother tongue because Im way more fluent in it but I dont tell people that because,like you say there's always the shock :| With that said,I have never thought of it as a prejudice per se.I will generalise and refer rather to the assumption,based on physical appearance, that people can speak their native language...

I find it annoying in general.It is a prejudice.But I would rather say its an expectation.In my culture its expected for children to learn their native language and I can understand why (preservation of culture through language).What I dont like is the judgment that comes when a person isnt fluent in their native language.I don't feel like its racist.I feel that its closed-minded.I hate when I feel like people are making negative assumptions about me just because of it and I would rather people just accepted me for who I am.The ability to speak english (way) better than one's native language shouldnt be held against anyone.

Thoughts?

(I'm sure someone can do a TOK presentation on this!)

(Interesting accent, by the way! I had to throw that one in.)

I like how you are showing a different viewpoint to this, and that this doesn't just occur with Asians. Does this happen to you often? And what language did you learn first?

Haha, would this make a good TOK presentation? Maybe I'll do it next year when I start IB. I think being able to personally identify with a presentation gets some bonus points, right?

Also, I've had a random thought, but this scenario could be reversed, where it is assumed that a person can speak English. Has this happened to anyone?

If anyone (whether you are Asian or not) has any previous experiences, please feel free to post your experiences here! It'd be interesting to see different scenarios and viewpoints from different cultures and places in the world.

[dessskris]

I’ve had a personal experience too. I am Chinese-Indonesian, more of an Indonesian even though I look Chinese. Many people think that I could speak Chinese – but in fact I couldn’t, which is embarrassing. My parents want me (and my sister) to learn Chinese though. But I just suck at learning languages, I’ve learnt it before for almost a semester but now I have forgotten most of the vocabularies except for simple Chinese like hello, how are you, what’s your name, I love you, etc.

In Indonesia also there are many races, and I am a Javanese. Unfortunately I am not living in the Javanese area, I live in the city where people do not speak Javanese thus I cannot speak Javanese. Both of my parents speak it very fluently and I sometimes do not understand if my relatives are speaking Javanese, which is shameful too . But my parents speak a little bit of Javanese at home so I know some vocabularies even though I cannot speak completely in Javanese fluently.

I don’t think I am going to be fluent in Chinese nor Javanese even if I happen to learn the languages intensively. I am not a good language learner, am happy with what I can speak right now I don’t mind people assuming I could speak those languages though. I don’t feel offended in any way at all even though it’s pretty embarrassing for me not to be able to speak my semi-native languages. However my native language is Indonesian and I am very fluent in it.

[Keel]

Yes, I agree with you about the racism bit. (Forgot to put that in the first post!) I don't think it's racism as there is no hatred involved in this scenario, even if prejudice is involved. The prejudice is not harsh enough, and I have not seen any scenarios where someone has intentionally used the fact that a person can't speak their 'native' language against them in a negative way and used against the person. It might have happened, though.

I'm sure there are other assumptions on other people, on how it is assumed they can speak their 'native' language (as Gee has demonstrated), but as I am Asian and Chinese, that is the only valid example I myself could offer, seeing as that is the only example I have personally experienced. Which is why I have only mentioned Chinese as an example in my first post. Also, I think it occurs more often to Asians as they are identified more easily (I don't go down the street trying to pinpoint where every white person's origins are in Europe), but this could be bias on my part seeing as I am Asian/Chinese and only have experiences on that.

There also is the topic on Third Culture Kids that plays a role in this. As you said, if one doesn't make the effort to actually understand their culture, I agree, it is disappointing. But what if the person didn't actually feel a connection to their country of origin? It is difficult to actually fully experience the language and the native culture if one doesn't live there and if their parents didn't live there, as well as identify with that culture; so in the end, one doesn't feel the need to learn the language and they don't identify with their country of origin. Heritage and identity I think aren't solely from where your ancestors are from, but from where you identify yourself to be in the most or where you consider 'home' to be. So you could say that I'm not really a 'native' of China anymore, as I have not lived there, nor my parents, and my grandparents have but only for a short amount of time. This effect, where someone doesn't identify with their ancestors' country, could be one of the reasons why one doesn't not know their grandparents' language.

But as I've said before, that form of prejudice is understandable, its how normal humans think. I don't see anything wrong with it. For your point about using the assumption against them, I don't think its possible. But if you think about the reverse scenario, where the "person looks Chinese, therefore they are obviously an immigrant and can't speak very good English, lets insult them in English because they cannot understand us" might be another way of looking at it.

For your second paragraph, I think you are maybe relying a bit too much on your own experiences. If I saw a person with curly red hair I would naturally think Irish or Scottish. Maybe you don't do it to Europeans because you are in a European environment. The people here in Hong Kong do exactly the same to the Westerners. Here in Hong Kong, a Westerner = English speaking European. Is that not a safe bet? British colony, Asia's international city ect. So I can imagine the scenario here in Hong Kong where a Polish gentleman who did not speak a word of English was approached by a person assuming he could. I think you are being slightly biased by saying it only happens to Asians because they are "identified more easily". How so?

With regards to your third paragraph, I did not use the word "disappointing" I put it more strongly than that: it is a "disgrace". Especially if its the second generation, maybe not so much for the third. Even if you are the third generation, do you not have some curiosity as to why your skin is different to everybody else? Do you not want to know how you came to be in the situation you are in now? If child lacks the ability to ask such questions, then I think there is something wrong with them. Maybe the environment is so multicultural that the child cannot see the difference. Yet they should still pick up the contradictory element of saying they are "Chinese" but not knowing anything about China. It's interesting how you yourself call yourself Chinese because normally people who hold your position will say "no I am not Chinese I am Australian/British...ect." To them 'Chinese' means speaking the language, eating rice as a staple food, playing badminton once a week ect. Is your definition of Chinese purely biological? Just because you are separated from your origin by space and time does not mean it should be meaningless to you. That does not serve as an excuse not to be interested your heritage.

I've, personally, never set foot in the UK, but maybe my avatar says something about my connections with it. (I changed my nationality on purpose to fit the avatar.)

[Summer Glau]

Well to share my experience, I am purely Indian by descent. However, my parents were not born/raised in India. Their parents aka my grandparents spoke Konkani at home to them because they did not speak English. My parents went to school in English though and there wasn't much Konkani literature where they lived, so they never learned how to read and write in their native language. So, I never learned how to read or write in Konkani either I can speak it but not as well as English. I've always wanted to learn how to read/write but really there is nobody who can teach me. Now, this language is slowly dying. Most kids of this culture who live in other parts of the world now cannot speak the language at all because their parents speak English to them. Even in India it is dying because parents think that learning English or is more advantageous for getting a job, education, etc.

I've had the same experience as Desy where people assume that I speak Hindi based on my ethnicity or they make assumptions about my religion. To be honest I don't really speak Hindi. I'm not really offended by it partially because I sometimes catch myself making these assumptions about other people myself It's normal for people to make these assumptions, because they're making them based on what they know about the culture. When the realize that their assumpion was incorrect, they will learn a little bit more.

Like Keel, it bothers me when people say that they don't care about their cultural roots at all. Even if you don't speak the language, it doesn't mean that you can't make the effort to learn, or attend cultural events, eat your cultural food, or at the very least not try to hide behind it. It's tempting to not think about your culture because it's just so much easier to blend in with everyone than to stand out. But I think it's cool to stand out

[Chris Kuno]

I personally hate this. I am 5th generation Canadian and even though I am Asian in appearance (Chinese/Japanese) it does not mean I play the violin/piano, speak Chinese or Japanese or get 180% in math. I do not prescribe to the ideas of Mao and my eyes are open for a matter of fact! It is ridiculous to generalize and if anything, I am more Canadian than the person who asked if I spoke "ching chong"

[Nectanebo]

I don't mind, I think to some extent I am disappointed with a person when they are not capable of speaking their ethnic language. I am half Japanese, half Australian but was born and raised in Australia with my Australian parent, however, I spent short periods of time in Japan, including almost 1 year of primary school, and to this day I have retained a good grasp of Japanese, if not to the level of a native speaker. Yes, English is my first language and I can happily say that my skill with it far outstrips many racists who have assumed my ignorance of the language due to my appearance, but when I meet another person of Japanese descent, I expect, I believe rightfully, to be able to converse in Japanese together. While I can understand that some people have not been given the same opportunities I have, and do not have the capability to speak in the language of those of their ethnicity, it is common for people to have their language, mostly due to the efforts of their parents or being immersed in a community of people who speak in the language with regularity, even if they are not within the country where the language is the norm.

But yeah, not racist, just presumptuous. Better to assume someone can speak a language than assume they can't, as is the case with many people towards Asians and English, as an example.

[Ray]

Yeah, thats what my IB coordinator told me so instead of doing self taught Chinese B, I had to do self- taught Chinese A1. Which is about 10000000 times harder.

[Sandwich]

I personally don't think you have to be disappointed at all in somebody who doesn't speak the language that their relatives spoke. I don't see culture as something handed down to you, it's something you are born into, it's the environment around you. Some people will have influences from their parents that make up that environment, others will not.

Being a 'naturalised' person of any country is something I think people should feel happy to identify with, not ashamed. If you feel split or that you identify still with the countries of your parents, then feel free to do so, but I don't think that it means people who don't feel that way ought to be ashamed. It's interesting to find out how your ancestors lived, but, for example, I myself would never contemplate learning Welsh. I don't expect people to judge me for it! Equally I've got no real interest in highland dancing, Tribal tartans etc.

On the other hand I'm very interested in the culture of where I was brought up because obviously it's "mine" If people feel totally happy in their skin culture-wise, I don't see the expectation that they also have to have some sort of major proficiency in other cultural ways/values or language etc.

Some of my friends who're from other ethnic backgrounds speak that language - Korean, Mandarin, French, whatever - but equally some do not. Those first people will say that they're French or "half-French half-English" and the latter people say that they're British. To be honest, I share a lot more cultural values with people who, like myself, don't have a second culture, so I'm very happy for somebody whose parents are Nigerian or Jamaican or whatever to be Brits as well. It makes perfect sense to me, we have exactly the same cultural influences and values. That's their cultural identity, that's my cultural identity, and I don't expect them to do extensive research on anything else!

Then again, I'm not really a second-culture person in the sense that everybody else is (obviously individual national British cultures merge a lot), so my point of view would be of an outsider. I don't think it's shameful to not know things or speak a language from your culture. It seems to me that only fellow second-culture people who can do those things seem to think it's important. I think that's an interesting one in itself! Whereas I think it's surely just an individual choice and often the way their family works/has influenced them/ranks culture as important. If somebody's mum has taught them a second language from birth or they've heard it in the home it's easy to develop an awareness of the second culture, whereas if your parents speak English to each other and have chosen to integrate a lot, it's equally easy to grow up with very little exposure. Not really your choice but your parents' choice.

As for the original assumption, I think mostly what Jamie said. It's an assumption but it's not meant to be hurtful. In my experience you can usually tell who does and doesn't have a second language just from how English their accent sounds, but you do get many people who have a totally normal English accent but also a second language. They're the people you can't screen for, so I guess you have to make an assumption one way or the other! It's not racist any more than me assuming that somebody wearing a stetson and an American flag is likely to be American and speak English. Probability

[CkyBlue]

Do you think that assuming an Asian can speak their 'native' language is a form of prejudice/racism, and why?

And why is it that this is assumption only made on Asians?

Hey buddy, I am also of Chinese decent (so I can relate a little bit), and I am a somewhat fluent (enough to be well of with it) speaker of Cantonese. You are right to think it is false logic to assume just because someone is Asian, that they speak an Asian language. However, I would not think that this gesture to be a form of racism. I am thinking that the intention of whom you are speaking is just looking for the most obvious or easiest form of communication to them. It is a common assumption, and I occasionally am spoken to in Mandarin as well.

In my opinion, I think it is a prejudice because it is a pre-conceived notion against a person before you get to meet them. Maybe I'm a bit more biased because I have had personal experience, and the fact that I've noticed that this assumption generally only happens to Asians as one wouldn't normally assume that a blond and blue-eyed person could speak a Northern European language like Finnish, for example.

I think you think that only true in more extreme cases. Prejudice is something that is based without logic or experience. Perhaps it is their experience that they meet people like this that their minds become geared to assume things, which is completely natural. It might be wrong, but it is natural. As for the "pre-conceived notion", it all depends on what the nature of the notion is right?

To answer your topic question, assuming this is not a form of racism for sure. Racism is the discrimination against cultures and ethnicities. In assuming that you can speak in a language is no way of doing that. And as for prejudice, I've already examined that in the above paragraph.

What caught my eye was you saying that guy assuming that your name (last name, I'm assuming) to be shorter than 5 letters, and the "little shocks and surprises" that people get when they realize you don't speak your native language. Well as before it is not racism (correct me if I'm wrong), but prejudice? I would think so. I believe that their experiences have wrongly become their logic, and in assuming that you should write the evaluation in Chinese, it is illogical. The same goes for the people with the "little shocks"; they don't seem to realize what there is in the outside world.

[TurtleR]

I don't think it can be classified as racism, I think it more has to do with the fact that most people have a habit of trying to "know" a person based on assumptions and stuff.

For example, when I was visiting India once, I mentioned to a family friend that I was learning French in Canada. Immediately, they started asking me if I could help teach their son french, and that they want him to be fluent. They were surprised when I told them that I wasn't even CLOSE to fluent in French, that I had merely learnt a few words (This was back when I was 14 and had started French).

It's the same as assuming that someone in IB must naturally be smarter than people in other classes.

I don't think it only happens to asians, I think it happens to everyone. I think it simply seems to happen to asians more because depending on where you live, asian languages such as cantonese may seem very foreign, and therefore people are more curious to know about it as opposed to a language such as, say, French in Canada.

[dubyawhy]

"racism" somehow implies a race is superior/inferior to another. So no, it's not racist. But it is rather ignorant.

But it is, at the same time, a well-based assumption. The case of asian people knowing their own languages far outnumber the number of asians who don't. So it isn't COMPLETELY stupid of him to assume so.

[ShootingStars]

This question reminds me of another interesting question - Is the assumption that a person is Asian because they look Asian a prejudice and a form of racism?

I know someone who made that mistake once..it was quite embarassing.

To return to the question of topic, it is not a prejudice or a form of racism. But it does demonstrate naivete on part of the person assuming. Ever heard of the term "third culture kid"? Nowadays, it is foolish to assume such things, with so many international communities and so many people living in countries that are not their country of origin.

Also, we need to distinguish between prejudice and racism. The assumption may be prejudice (although I do not feel so. If someone walks up to you and converses in your "native" language they are trying to "connect" with you on another level and just did not consider that you may not know the language. But you can't blame them because for them you are a rare case, an exception.)

Racism, on the other hand, is the example about colleges treating you differently. But colleges just want diversity and want people to challenge themselves and I doubt a lot of colleges do that anyway.

[Arrowhead]

Personally, I've found that discrimination of this sort is not exclusive to a particular sect. I find that many a times, there is an unconscious discrimination in language itself. Like because the poster said Asian, people assume that it relates to Chinese/Japanese/Indonesian/Korean, etc. I'm Indian (partly) and I'm Asian consequently. But I'm rarely counted as so. The stereotype runs deeper than most people realise.

As an Asian, I have found that people expect me to be somewhat aware of my language, even though I've only ever lived in India for a few years. But I think that is a valid assumption to make at first. I would find it surprising that an Asian didn't speak Hindi (or the language of their home country) just as I would find it surprising if a traditionally, white English person spoke fluent Hindi. You assume people will have a mother tongue that is the same as their origin because that's where majority of the people who look as such are from.

Of course, as soon as the said person opens their mouth and speaks in a different accent, then you know that they have been brought up elsewhere. But even then, the assumption that they are aware of or speak their origin language is present because its natural to believe that to be so. I've travelled and lived all over because of my father's line of work, we still speak Hindi, Gujarati, and Sindi at home. At the same time, I can still manage Russian (with an awful accent) because I lived there for a few years, that surprises people just as much.

This assumption is less of discrimination and more of an expectation and I do not think that it induces racism at all. Its merely a natural supposition that people come to. When the majority works in one way, you cannot automatically think that because you are an exception to the rule in some way, that would be obvious. Having such an expectation from everyone you meet would be unfair on your part because knowing the language of wherever you originate from, well, its a part and parcel of your identity. If you don't consider it your dominant culture owing to your third cultural upbringing or personal views or whatever than that's fine and your choice entirely, but its your choice to be so, people's perception of you will forever be skewed at the start. Calling that racist or discriminatory, would be pulling the negative connotation of those words to new extremes IMO.

Sometimes, its just better not to make a mountain out of a molehill.