If any of my mixed sisters out there need a fake ID, let me know!
JC
The “cross-race effect” is discussed in this article. Basically, it is the idea that it is much harder for individuals to distinguish differences amongst people from a race/ethnicity not their own. Basically it confronts the “all ____ people look the same” phenomenon. Shortcomings due to this inability are discussed — I love that this article basically laments the human inability to pick out criminals!? Nice. Is that the only benefit of being able to identify one another?
“We’re looking for things that distinguish them for us,” said Malpass, “but not the things that distinguish them from each other.” To offset the cross-race effect, the Department of Homeland Security trains border agents to assess passport photos against the physical features of their holders in almost mechanical ways. This entails “specific identifiers that are highly accurate,” such as the width of a nose’s bridge, said immigration inspector Charles Showalter.
More helpfulness — if you want to improve on your ability to tell one Asian from another, visit the site below. For all of the Asians out there who have been pissed that people can’t tell you apart from other Asians, hurry up and reap the benefits now before more people get good at it! If you are underage, borrow an Asian friend’s ID. No one will know. 
Suematsu has created a Web site on Asians, http://www.alllooksame.com/, that explores the “they all look alike to me” stereotype and makes fun of it. Among other things, the site displays 18 faces of Asians - Chinese, Japanese and Koreans - and asks visitors to identify their nationalities. High scorers, he’s found, hail mainly from areas with many Asians, such as Korea, Taiwan, Hawaii and New York City.
For underage drinkers hoping to get past nightclub bouncers, however, the cross-race effect can be helpful, according to Monica Lee, a Chinese student at George Washington University in Washington. Any ID with an Asian face, no matter how unlike the ID holder’s, works, said Lee, now 22. “They see you with dark hair and the stereotypical Asian features and say, `Oh, that’s you,’” said Lee.
Is this article for real?!? Some really positive messages here…
eric wrote:
I do have to say, in certain pictures, Lucy Liu and Lisa Ling doooo kinda look alike
But yeah, I’ve experienced this phenomena in the workplace a number of times. One notable time I (lightskinned, mixed black/white) was mixed up with my buddy Carlos (dark-skinned Dominican). I look as much like him as I look like Ricky Shroeder from “Silver Spoons”
Posted 25 Apr 2006 at 1:05 pm ¶
site admin wrote:
Eric, I agree with you that Liu and Ling do actually look a lot alike. As for the fake ID issue, this is so true! When we were in college, one of my best friends (she’s Chinese) used to use her aunt’s ID card: her THIRTY-EIGHT year-old aunt, and no one would even question it because hey, all Asian women look the same! — CVK
Posted 25 Apr 2006 at 1:32 pm ¶
brad wrote:
Eric,
Dominican is a nationality, not a race. There are Dominicans who are white, black, mixed, Native, etc. So, if you dropped some Dominicans into a gathering of African-Americans, you’ll undoubtedly find that some of them look similar (same could be said of many Latin Americans).
As for the Asians look alike, I have to agree with the ID thing. My bestfriend once used her sisters ID and they look nothing alike except hair and skin color. But, some Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese do look alike simply because they come from the same original people who migrated around Asia and people have been inter-marrying forever.
Anyway, Lisa Ling and Lucy Liu do look similar in the photos except for Liu’s freckles.
Posted 25 Apr 2006 at 2:57 pm ¶
eric wrote:
i wrote a response to this, but it got eaten.
it basically said that my friend looks like Big Papi, speaks spanish, and looks/acts nothing like me, his wife is caucasian, my gf is chinese, we like diff kinds of music.
There is no way to mix us up, except for the fact we were the only ones with melanin in the company.
Posted 25 Apr 2006 at 9:57 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
This happens to all non-whites, but Asians get it the worst. I watched a high school friend called by the name of a girl who was not only not in that class, but 6 inches taller with long wavy hair. Another friend of mine was confused w/ Ms. Joo by our con law prof who proceeded to call her by that name during class.
Christ, if she were into identity theft she would clean up. I could see the jury, “well they DO look alike..”
I had a teacher tell me, “you should not sit next to L– b/c she’s bringing your grade down. You all talk to each other too much.” UHHH actually he had it backwards (I had the crappy grade ;0 ). we were the only 2 blacks in the class and do NOT look alike.
It’s amazing what life could be if people took the time to really look at someone.
Posted 26 Apr 2006 at 10:11 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
Actually, this look alike syndrome happens throughout all races and it happens for so many reasons that it is endemic to living with other people, regardless of race. People of the same race, white on white, black on black, asian on asian, etc, cannot even tell each other apart half the time. The statement, “All of you look alike to me.” has been said by every race to every race. This syndrome has far more to do with people just not paying attention (many people are afraid to look too closely at anybody) than it does with any racial bias. When I was 18, I used to go to this place near Union Square called the Underground. This was a year or so before NY changed the drinking age to 21. I used to give some of my white friends with brown hair my ID and they always got in with no questions. Come to think of it, a few of my Asian and Spanish friends used my ID with no problem either. You know how it is, we do all look alike! Ha!
Posted 27 Apr 2006 at 3:37 pm ¶