#TheyAsked: A Group Therapy Session

(The Root) — Since its inception, NPR’s CodeSwitch blog has facilitated some very engrossing, enlightening discussions about race on Twitter. A recent conversation, inspired by a post on AskReddit, earned a bevy of responses.

CodeSwitch asked its Twitter followers, “What’s the most ridiculous question you’ve been asked (about race)?” Using the hashtag #TheyAsked, hundreds of tweets were fired off during the discussion. Eighty-six of the responses were collected via Storify, and 10 of the craziest ones appear below. Scroll through the rest of the Storify here, and see if you can spot answers from your friendly neighborhood writers from The Root!

https://twitter.com/jxchung/status/337277880654508032

https://twitter.com/njerieaton/status/337247394443952128

@NPRCodeSwitch fav #theyasked of a white friend with bi-racial child: where did you get him? Friend: republic of my uterus #owned

— Andrea (@umma_yun) May 22, 2013

https://twitter.com/laurenwilliams/status/337287403939184640

say, do you know you look just like (insert random black celebrity who looks NOTHING like me) #Theyasked

— @pdjeliclark.bsky.social (@pdjeliclark) May 22, 2013

https://twitter.com/baltimore_lili/status/337288459691642880

"So is it hard to get used to campus life after growing up in the ghetto?" #theyasked @NPRCodeSwitch

— Blair LM Kelley, PhD (@profblmkelley) May 22, 2013

https://twitter.com/ottsatwork/status/337283027086499841

#theyasked [girl in HS Zoology class, btw] "Do Black People have red blood?" I said "No, it's more pink, like #PeptoBismol." Girl: "Oh."

— criminalblackman (@CriminalBlackMa) May 24, 2013

https://twitter.com/SuzeMSP/status/337254363389100033

Read more at CodeSwitch.

Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.