|
Sue
“Sue” is multiracial—her mom is
Chinese, and her dad is Irish—German American. She identifies
herself more as Asian American than white. “I preferred to date
someone that is multiracial like me or someone that does not
discriminate against a multiracial person,” stated Sue. She
experiences numerous racism and discriminations against her while
growing up, especially from the “white” community.
Sue felt the exclusion from both the
Asian and the White communities because she is not “authentic”
enough. Where monoracial identification is dictated by
appearance, Sue felt that the Asian community was often discriminated
against her because she doesn’t look Asian enough. On the other
hand, the white community automatically designated her as nonwhite
because she doesn’t look white. She felt the division within the
communities of color, and fear of losing in the struggle for racial
equality (Wijeyesinghe 219). She was judged and marginalized more
frequently because she was considered by others who were monoraical to
be an out-group member and she was also denied community belonging from
both.
Chinese
Italian English
We had one multiracial interviewee who
has a Chinese mother and a father of Italian and English descent. She
identifies herself as Asian more than white because she considers
herself as having a very Chinese upbringing. She went to Chinese school
and can speak Chinese fluently. Her experiences are different from a
mono-racial Asian's experience, however, because she finds herself
being asked, “What are you?” a lot from the mono-racial Asian
community. She finds that she has to work hard to “prove” that she is
Asian to the community, and she feels there is always some level of
rejection from them. When she is with her white friends, though, they
mostly see her as white. Even though she faces more scrutiny and
“border patrolling” from the Asian community than the white community,
she mostly finds herself asserting an Asian identity.
Jane
Jane is an Asian multiracial who
identifies with being Chinese Jamaican. Being multiracial meant
she had a fluid identity. Different situations allowed her to
identify herself differently. Jane has had the most affinity with
Asians compared to other racial groups, because Asians always assumed
she was Chinese. Being accepted as Asian has allowed her to feel
closer to Asians. She has felt discrimination from Whites because
they called her racial names and even had objects thrown at her.
What is learned from this interview is that not all monoracial Asians
treat multiracial Asians with a barrier, but this individual’s
experience cannot be applied to the whole multiracial Asian
population. Every individual’s experience is unique, which is why
learning about multiracial experience is essential.
Another
Subtitle
“…Identifying with a race group does
not necessarily mean one must identify with the race group their
parents are.”
One of our interviewees identifies as
both Pacific Islander and Asian American, yet throughout her adolescent
life, she identified as Black and Latino. Physical appearance was a
major factor in how her high school peers perceived her, and as a
result, she was welcomed and included in the Black & Latino
community. The little exposure and association with other Asian
Americans at her high school helped strengthen her identity in her
community of friends. One may observe this as a testimonial to the
power of “race” by how it forms and shapes identities based on factors
such as physical appearance.
|
