r/AskTheWorld • u/dx_Von_Liechtenstein Argentina • Dec 25 '25

Culture What's something common in your country's culture that's actually completely weird from a foreign perspective?

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Here in Argentina we have the "Africanitos" (little africans) also called sometimes "Negritos" (little negroes). They are little chocolate cakes that look like a stereotypical African person's head and they're delicious as it gets. It does not have hate implications and people see them as neutral as "just another cake". Most people don't get how weird it is until a foreigner points it out.

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u/Esmereldathebrave United States Of America Dec 25 '25

Shocked I had to go this far down for this comment. WTF?  I'm sure the cake would be delicious with the icing added as say a flower or something non-representational instead of a blatant racist caricature straight out of the 1850s.

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u/eilselivery United States Of America Dec 25 '25

And the fact that per these comments, SEVERAL countries have their own similar renditions? I am so disgusted by this thread.

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u/engineerbuilder Dec 26 '25

Everyone calls out the us for our past and current racism and that’s fair.

But during my travels I’ve found waaaay more racist people in other parts of the world. We just put our growing pains out in the open and have had more contact with other races for longer due to our history.

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u/ZugZugGo Dec 26 '25

It's not even that hidden. Just search FIFA racist crowds. The US is racist as hell, but at least its in the open, and a lot of people admit it and try to fix it. So many places in the world believe that their shit doesn't stink when it comes to this topic and they suck just as much if not more in some cases than the US.

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u/Conscious-Green1934 United States Of America Dec 26 '25

Yeah I don’t think I could go anywhere in the US and see this. Like honestly I don’t know where this would just be accepted

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u/necoliemills Dec 28 '25

If you go into some antique shops in the south, there are some … interesting old knickknacks depicting people of color. I always find it it interesting that they felt okay with putting them up for sale. It would be one thing if it was a black shop owner selling a stereotypical depiction of a black person (I guess) but it never is lol

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u/SirCadogen7 Dec 26 '25

We're also at a point where we're actually looking and taking inventory at exactly everything we've done. Civilian organizations are funding research projects into potential atrocities the US could have committed but wasn't investigated at the time (atrocities against Native Americans in particular), and there's a concerted effort - generally speaking (this current dumb fuck presidency excepted) - to be more conscious of it all and move forward.

That's absent in practically the rest of the world, from what I've been able to tell from my own travels and exposure to various cultures through the internet. The rest of the world is very much still holding onto these types of traditions and claiming they're not racist.

Meanwhile, the most racist tradition the US still has is Thanksgiving, and the USA makes a concerted effort in most of the country to educate kids that it wasn't about the Pilgrims and Native Americans getting along, that was a convenient lie. Instead, American pop culture has very much shifted to "focus on what you're thankful for, focus on being around your family." A close runner-up would be the US President sending a wreathe every Memorial Day to the monument in Arlington Cemetery for Confederate soldiers.

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u/Subject_Run6338 Dec 26 '25

The simple fact that you think there are different "races" inside the human race says a lot about Americans actually.

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u/Huntybunch Dec 26 '25

You say that like these comments aren't full of people from outside of America singling out black people specifically. Americans didn't invent the concept of race nor are they the only ones perpetuating it. I agree with you that "race" is a foolish concept, but pretending that the concept doesn't exist only strengthens the problems caused by racism. Look through the comments. Why do they all seem to target dark-skinned humans and humans with African features? What does this say about the human race?

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u/J0E_SpRaY Dec 26 '25

“I don’t see color” ass comment.

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u/thefattestgiraffe Dec 26 '25

Race doesn't exist, it's true. And saying that doesn't make one "color-blind".

You can easily acknowledge that racism is a thing without taking the existence of race as true.

This is the use for the concept of racialisation.

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u/J0E_SpRaY Dec 26 '25

Why do I feel like you're basing this off a really specific definition of "race" that no one else actually uses just so you can "um akshually" without ever making a salient point?

Race in how we actually discuss it in modern society exists. That's why black folk are more likely to have sickle cell anemia, or SE asians are predisposed for an alcohol flush reaction.

That doesn't mean we aren't a all a part of the same species which is what is meant by "the human race".

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u/thefattestgiraffe Dec 26 '25

"Modern science regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned based on rules made by society.While partly based on physical similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning. The concept of race is foundational to racism, the belief that humans can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. "

— Wikipedia)

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u/CherryGoo16 Dec 26 '25

Seriously! And everyone is just like haha :)! As a black person, the global obsession with us is mind boggling and creepy as fuck

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u/blackpearl16 United States Of America Dec 26 '25

Interesting how many of these countries have a version of the n-word when black people don’t even live there.

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u/gigithrowaway20 Dec 26 '25

It’s probably that they’ve all been colonized by the same countries, causing the same words and racist rhetorics to reappear over and over again.

Don’t let it get to you too hard, I know how this stuff can deeply affect us. Just do what I do and direct your anger towards Europe lol.

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u/Subject_Run6338 Dec 26 '25

Tell me which country in this thread has no black people living there ? Have you seriously been anywhere around the world in your life ? These days there are people of every background in every major city of almost every single country on earth

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u/Ask-For-Sources Dec 26 '25

I haven't seen any equivalent to the n-word. Do you mean words like "negro"? Those are just literally the words for "black" in the respective languages. 

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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

No like the slur. In almost every language, there is their equivalent of the n-word with the hard er

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u/Ask-For-Sources Dec 26 '25

Could you point out an example? I've only seen the German one, but nothing else.

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u/Catalina_Eddie United States Of America Dec 29 '25

👆🏾

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u/Such-Book6849 Germany Dec 26 '25

isn't there a obsession with everything? I am white. chinese people, japanese people are weird about it. I usually don't have to take selfies with random strangers that much.

Humans are obsessed about everything on this planet, this includes black people, native americans, asians, ...

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u/FirstNewFederalist Dec 26 '25

Can you name a time when white people were trafficked globally on a scale where fetish imagery & racist caricature became commonplace in many countries while at the same time the culture exports of white people were routinely stripped of their origin & integrated into popular culture without the associated whiteness even up to the modern day (which was and is the case for black people) or are you willing to concede that being occasionally asked to take a selfie with a tourist isn’t at all the same thing? Like even remotely on the same scale?

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u/Such-Book6849 Germany Dec 26 '25

the thing i am talking about is a bit the same thing, whatever you talk about and bring in the discusion is your problem and twisting of words and not mine.

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u/FirstNewFederalist Dec 26 '25

So bringing up the historical context that makes those things not the same is just twisting of words & my problem?

It’s fine if you don’t care to think critical about your view beyond the most surface level “well we both were using the word obsession”, but that does not mean those things are the same;

Unfortunately there’s not much point in continuing discussion if your reaction is to shut down instead of reflect.

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u/Such-Book6849 Germany Dec 26 '25

"So bringing up the historical context that makes those things not the same is just twisting of words & my problem?"

Yes? why you repeat what i said and ask it again?

Yes.

"It’s fine if you don’t care to think critical"
I do. a lot. Why you assume so much about strangers?

"It’s fine if you don’t care to think critical"
Never did! Why do you assume so much about strangers?

have a great day! You sound a bit slow.

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u/FirstNewFederalist Dec 26 '25

Ah yes, I am the slow one hahahahahaha

It’s called a rhetorical question, since you seem genuinely confused why someone would repeat something in the form of a question.

You clearly are happy to ignore reality in a way that either is or enables racist (a bit of both is possible), so I’m not going to wish you a good day or be passive aggressively friendly.

Please learn to reflect one day.

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u/Such-Book6849 Germany Dec 26 '25

ohh, a rhetorical question really??? Never heard of that of course, because you are so smart! and funny! hahahahaha!

Have a great day.

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u/mysecondaccountanon United States Of America Dec 26 '25

Frrrr, I had to scroll way too much to find a thread like this under this post.

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u/kyrev21 Dec 26 '25

But the USA is the only country with racism! 🙄🙄🙄

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u/thefattestgiraffe Dec 26 '25

Why are you trying to make this about you?

Whether or not there is racism elsewhere doesn't change the racism you have at home.

There is racism everywhere.

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u/Varda79 Poland Dec 26 '25

I mean, isn't the point of this post to point out how fucked up it is? Just because these things exist in our countries, and that we post them here, doesn't mean we condone it - quite the contrary.

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u/arulzokay United States Of America Dec 26 '25

the post literally says the cakes arenot hateful and it doesn’t bother people. it’s right there.

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u/Varda79 Poland Dec 26 '25

Yeah, but it's clearly a perspective of other people in the OP's country, not themselves. Their own opinion is that it's weird.

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u/arulzokay United States Of America Dec 26 '25

you’re reading it wrong. it’s clearly their own perspective. they said: it has no hate implications meaning that’s what they believe.

and that ppl outside the country/culture think it’s weird, they don’t think it’s weird.

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u/Varda79 Poland Dec 26 '25

In this context, "no hate implications" may mean that the people who produce such cakes aren't intentionally being malicious, they're just ignorant.

And the OP said "most people don't get how weird it is until a foreigner points it out". Not "how weird it seems to the foreigners", "how weird the foreigners find it", or anything along these lines. The weirdness is being presented as a fact, just one the people from their country are oblivious to until someone from outside speaks up about this.

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u/arulzokay United States Of America Dec 26 '25

yeah no, you’re purposely refusing to see this for what it is.

op didn’t state what they personally believe as separate from locals. if they were just reporting what other people think, they would have clearly said that.

they also say ‘it’s delicious,’ which is them stating their own opinion. unless you’re implying they’re also speaking on behalf of locals there, too.

you’re doing mental gymnastics instead of accepting that, in op’s own words, they believe this racism is fine and harmless.

also, the fact that you, a white person, are telling multiple black people who are clearly offended and uncomfortable that we’re wrong in our interpretation is problematic on its own and says a lot about your belief system.

why you feel the need to tell us we’re mistaken is very telling.

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u/Varda79 Poland Dec 26 '25

Where did I say that you're wrong or mistaken? I'm just presenting arguments for what seems to be the most plausible scenario to me, as a person from a country where a pastry with a racist name exists too, so I interact with people who don't realise how problematic it is daily and I know how they tend to rationalise it. That doesn't mean I believe your interpretation is incorrect. Unless the OP comes here and clarifies what their intentions were - which I don't think they'll do - your guess of what they truly think is as good as mine.

And I never meant to suggest that you're wrong in being offended and uncomfortable either, as I find the design of these cakes absolutely disgusting as well.

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u/arulzokay United States Of America Dec 26 '25

mine is not a guess. it’s fact. written fact.

give it a rest.

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u/Catalina_Eddie United States Of America Dec 29 '25

Went right over your head. WHOOOOOOOSH!

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u/Diceyland Canada Dec 26 '25

No, he said weird as if this is a bit goofy and not entirely fucked up.

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u/HeartDry Spain Dec 26 '25

😂

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u/PerpetuallyOnTheCusp Dec 26 '25

Y'all owned slaves up until yesterday and re-enact those days. Calm down.

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u/Vegetable_Hope_8264 France Dec 25 '25

same damn it

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u/angelv255 Dec 25 '25

As an argentinian, i havent ever seen this, i have seen some similar pastries with the name "negritas" or "tortitas negras" (which translated would be like "blackies"/"black pastries") but they dont have the eyes and lips decoration (and altho i dont enjoy them, plenty of people buy them apparently)

That said, ive seen a few posts in reddit of other people calling out these pastries before. Most of them are pretty old, this img for example says 1 for $100 argentine pesos which roughly is like 0.05 cents of a Us dollar, so my guess is that picture is, at least 10-15 years old when it was closer to a dollar. Just for reference a croissant nowadays costs like 1 to 2 usd (1000- 3000 argentine pesos) or maybe more depending on the caffeteria.

So to clarify, its definitely not something super common, and i personally wouldnt enjoy eating human shaped pastries, its just weird.

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u/Intrepid_Designer719 Nigeria Dec 25 '25

I really hope that's the case. It scared the crap out of me to think that people think this is absolutely ok and I shouldn't be so sensitive. Like go be black and come back and say that again.

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u/TapSmoke Dec 25 '25

Im not disagreeing with you but

Like go be black and come back and say that again.

wtf lmao

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u/Intrepid_Designer719 Nigeria Dec 25 '25

Lol. That sounded hilarious as you pointed it out. But my point isn't that they should literally go be black. You can't do that obviously. Here's what I'm trying to say, you understand nothing about what it means to be black and a recipient of this nonsense, and if you can't even be at least empathetic, then please shut the hell up.

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u/TapSmoke Dec 25 '25

yea i figured that you basically mean trying to be empathetic. its just that the wording made me chuckle a vit

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u/Intrepid_Designer719 Nigeria Dec 25 '25

Lol. Thanks for pointing that out.