I'm a white American who grew up on the Mexican border. However, my family hails from Iowa, which is where the "white people don't like spicy food" stereotype comes from. So, while I love spicy food and want to get the hottest thing available, I know my taste buds can't handle it. I get it anyway, obviously, even knowing I'll end up going through seven glasses of water by the time I'm halfway done with my meal.

Funny and related story: way back when, a friend of my parents was working a waiter in Minnesota. One night, he was serving a woman who asked him, in the most stereotypical small-town Minnesota housewife accent, "does the lemongrass chicken have flavor?"

This, of course, confused the everything shit out of my parents' friend, who is a bit of a foodie, so he asked her to repeat what she said, and it didn't change. In retrospect it seems like she was asking if it was spicy, but ever since he told me that story (he was a theatre major and has learned the accent flawlessly, it's absolutely hysterical) I've thought of it whenever I see "white people don't use spices" joke.