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Summer
“Summer” identifies herself as Asian
American. When asked what make her feel or looks Asian, Summer
replied, “because that is how I see my self and that is the perception
that I get from others.” The
social institutions based on her physical appearance and categorize her
as Asian because she “fit” in the Asian racial
landscape.
Some of the factors that Summer uses
to racially categorize herself include her racial ancestry, ethnicity,
physical appearances, early socialization, personal experiences
(Wijeyesinghe 218), and a sense of shared experience with her Asians
friend within the community where she has resided. Summer has a
strong connection to her Asian culture because of her family and Asian
friend. Through the exposure of her cultural aspects, such as
food, music, the celebration of various holidays, and the various Asian
languages that she uses with her parents and friend provided safety and
support to her racial identity.
A
Subtitle
I had asked a mono-racial Asian friend
of mine how he would define being “Asian.” I wanted to know what
criteria had to be met in order for someone to be Asian. He said
firstly that being Asian meant having the “Asian eyes.” An Asian person
has to look Asian, so that other people would support that identity.
There's also the knowledge component, where a person would have to know
an Asian language, know about Asian holidays, and respect their Asian
parents. I then suggested to him that I knew a multiracial Asian woman
who spoke Chinese fluently and went out to Chinatown every weekend to
eat Dim Sum with her Chinese grandmother. Her mother is Chinese, but
her father is white. My friend said that she is Asian, but not “as
Asian” as a mono-racial Asian would be. Because of her appearance, she
could be mistaken for white, and that means she has trouble fulfilling
the first criteria. He doesn't mean she is less of a person, but
rather, that it is harder for her to assert her Asian identity to other
Asians because she doesn't completely look the part.
John
John is a monoracial Asian who had a
multiracial Asian friend, Matt, during his college years. They
would hang out and John would reply to Matt about how White he
is. John claims he is more White because Matt enjoyed ordering
crab rangoon, beef teriyaki, and anything that is in the pu pu
platter. Since John knows that Americanized Chinese food is not
real Chinese food, he uses his cultural knowledge to border patrol
Matt. Although John teases Matt about him being White, John
claimed that he still accepts Matt as a friend. John may not know
if he is causing Matt emotional turmoil even though he claims to accept
him. Although some monoracials may create boundaries on who they
think is Asian or not, but not every monoracial will exclude
multiracials from their group. There needs to be more awareness
on how these boundaries are created and understand how to break these
barriers.
R.N
“Then as simple as it would be to say
I’m both, I wouldn’t be sure which group I belong to.”
Another interviewee identifies as
Chinese-Vietnamese American, who has lived predominantly in Haitian,
Brazilian and White neighborhoods. Even though he is not multiracial,
he tries to put himself in the shoes of his cousin who identifies as
both Vietnamese and White American. He believed his cousin may have
felt distant from her communities because of the communities attitude’s
towards multiracial Asians. He thought that multiracial Asians in the
media should embrace who they are. In doing so, the younger generations
to come would have role models in understanding that having a
multiracial Asian identity is something to be proud of.
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