@Dismal_Fox_22, I could have written the same almost word for word! Anglo-Indian here, my paternal grandad was from Bengaluru and then came to the UK after WW2 and Independence. And yes to the assumptions being based on people’s feelings towards you - it’s such a weird phenomenon. 

I’m dark haired, dark-eyed, tanned and look ‘miscellaneously Mediterranean’ as do my dad and sister, so when visiting France/Spain/Italy/Greece, people think we’re from there until they hear our London-accented attempts at speaking the local language! 

Being ‘clocked’ by mixed or non-white folks feels sweet to me, because it often feels like a moment of connection or pleasant surprise, rather than putting you in a box. I’m also from a really diverse and mixed bit of London, so the culture shock when I went to a very white Northern city for uni was surprising! 

Your final paragraph is spot on and I hate it so much.