Hapa "culture" does not and cannot exist

[kimpossible]

//This is the response to the other article -- HH

In this scathing opinion piece, Emma Goldman argues that Hapa "culture" does not and cannot exist, and that the phenomenon is just another example of America's propensity for naming, packaging and marketing a group of people—and profiting from it.

By Emma Goldman

November 2002

Author's Note:
This essay was written as a reaction to the outrageous article "Hapa-merica: The coming of age of Hapas sets the stage for a new agenda" that was published on April 13, 2000 in AsianWeek.

"Hello, my name is Kontiki Chang and I would like to talk about being Hapa. I have all the credentials: I am a Eurasian Hong Kong prototype with white dominant genes plus strains of Anglo-Jewishness on one side of my bloodline. I think I am unique."

[applause]

"Thank you, Kontiki. Now it is Tamagochi Peterson's turn."

We are the new Americans. We are exotic. And now that we're at college (paying thirty grand a year) and spending our time delving into our innermost selves we're going to teach you about how unique you are. Subscribe to our exclusive new culture: the culture of not knowing who the hell you are, but at least finding solidarity with others who do not know who the hell they are and deciding to exploit the accidental mix of their gene pool to form a Church of the Ethnically Interesting. Ladies and gentlemen, you may now pray.

Hapa is the new Black. Hapa is the new chic. As if Maria Carey wasn't enough, we are now faced with new-generation American kids who have taken up the jaded formula of going back to their "roots." You would have thought Culture Inc. would have found something more worthwhile to feed to the masses. I don't see how Hapa culture could be anything more than a community of people with complexes, be they egoistic or inferiority ones. Surely enough, "who am I" and "who are we" communities are also made up by people who want counseling - people who are not comfortable as individuals and feel the need to brand themselves in order to feel some kind of solidarity.

This is because there is no such thing as an ethnically non-mixed human being—only some who are considered "more" or "less" exotic than others.

Poor Little Rich Hapas

"Hapa organizations on college campuses nationwide, and even courses on Hapas, one at San Francisco State University called 'Asians of Mixed Heritage.'"

What is there for self-professed Hapas to talk about? If there is no common language other than English, no common contemporary culture, then all there is, is yet another counselor-style talk shop about "my experiences as a Hapa," i.e., another chance to talk about me and how special I am. Let's all pander to our egos. For what else could serve as a basis for Hapa "culture?" There is nothing in common between people of mixed ethnicity, other than that they are of mixed ethnicity, like all humans on the planet. One may have had unusual experiences as a result, but does that warrant grouping us all together?

Hapa™ reveals a typical American trend toward "branding" people. Despite the physical variety and diversity of Hapas, we all have one common point: We are all born accidentally into our bodies and there is nothing we can do about it. Having to fall back on ethnicity to feel unique is a loser attitude. Not surprising when it comes from the Continent of Conformist Culture (CCC)™. Or maybe Hapa culture is the new McCulture: hip, shiny, narcissistic. It makes you whole; it addresses "your entire self." Shucks, and I only bought that L'Oreal shampoo yesterday—obviously I didn't think I was "worth it" enough.

article (http://www.eurasiannation.com/generic150.html)

[kimpossible]

I understand the article is supposed to be 'scathing' but this was my only problem with it. See what I quoted below. Am I reading this wrong or does the author seem to automatically discount blasians from being mixed Asians? I realize the article came from Eurasian Nation, but the title was about Hapas, not just eurasians.

edit: maybe I'm just not in the best of moods today but this kind of pissed me off that she seems to skip right over the existence of blasians

True, being of mixed race can be a passport into different ethnic groups who will let you in because of your genes. And generally, the whiter you are, the more human rights are suddenly at your disposal. But doesn't this just show how stupid such bigoted tribal ideas are of "laying claim" to people?

"And it's common for Hapas to experience backlash." Indeed-backlash and approval are just the two sides of the bigotry coin. How often have I heard:

"You think too much like your father (i.e., white)."
"You're too Western."
"You think you know about your so-called 'roots' but you're just a fake."
"You speak too much English."
"You're not Chinese enough, you're not my daughter."

And of course, the unforgettable:


"Promise me you won't make the family lose face by marrying a Black man."

[kimpossible]

*bump*

So, is it just me overreacting? or did she have to go there? I feel like this directly excluded blasians and treats eurasians as the only mixed Asians. Which we know is crap.

[BeTheReds]

I don't think she was deliberatly excluding blasians from the hapa community when the focus of her argument is that there is no hapa community. I only think she was trying to higlight some of the rediculous things she has heard to illustrate what kind of backlash she has recieved.

[Hiroshi2]

Don't worry too much about it; I'm used to seeing this kind of thing. I stopped reading most articles, etc. about interracial relationships/bi/multiracial children, etc. in general because most of those deal with black/white issues. I feel like it wasn't something I could really relate to other than being of mixed race.

There's so much more info out there about blasians and black/asian issues that I thought a few months ago, so I'm not too worried.

Interesting article, btw, though. It does kinda make you wonder, is that what culture in general has become in America? Just a brand, like a company?

Anyway, all of that is a discussion for another post. I might come back to this later.

[kimpossible]

BTR> My argument for why the author was exclusionary based on the idea that her intended audience seemed to be eurasians. She didn't write "Eurasian culture," she wrote "Hapa culture." If she was trying to connect with an audience of mixed Asians and relay the typical mixed Asian experience, she made a huge freakin miscalculation. Thank you for at least responding Eugene, I'm not trying to blow you out of the water I just want to explain why I feel the author lost credibility with this statement.

Hiroshi> If you find some blasian resource pages can you PM me with it? I'd like to stick it up in the pinned link thread. In general I just don't want to see the YW mixed Asian forum fall into the trap of being balanced towards eurasians. Looking forward to your other post.

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Nov 19 2002, 12:48 AM
BTR> My argument for why the author was exclusionary based on the idea that her intended audience seemed to be eurasians. She didn't write "Eurasian culture," she wrote "Hapa culture." If she was trying to connect with an audience of mixed Asians and relay the typical mixed Asian experience, she made a huge freakin miscalculation. Thank you for at least responding Eugene, I'm not trying to blow you out of the water I just want to explain why I feel the author lost credibility with this statement.

Hiroshi> If you find some blasian resource pages can you PM me with it? I'd like to stick it up in the pinned link thread. In general I just don't want to see the YW mixed Asian forum fall into the trap of being balanced towards eurasians. Looking forward to your other post.
Well how can you talk about your Blasian experiences if you are not Blasian? While I can see why you would think that she is being exclusive for saying that, I still think the main focus of the article is that there is no Hapa community. Seperating blasians from Eurasians does not detract from the thesis.

I don't know about ALL blaisans, but of the two I dated their mother did not like the idea of them dating black guys and hoped they would marry either white or asian or me. So it is entirely possible that Blasians would also have heard these kinds of things, as my blasian ex gfs both did.

Now their father on the other hand said he'd be fine with anything but white.. which is basically the same statement that the author says, but switching black with white.

[Hiroshi2]

^Hello Hapa:

About that. I looked at the "Confused White Boy" thread and read your points about not being fully accepted as Japanese. I've known for a while that I would never be considered fully Japanese, so that brings me to the point: is there such a thing as half-japanese or half-anything? If I'm not fully Japanese, then maybe I'm not japanese at all. But you can't really say that because my mom is fully japanese, so I can't be completely non-japanese. But the thing is this: I don't speak fluent japanese, matter of fact I doubt I can speak it better than a 2 yr old japanese- I don't regularly eat japanese food, I don't know any japanese people, and for god's sake I know white kids who can read better japanese than me. So does the "japanese" in me become nothing more than some sort of DNA identification, what some have called "representative ethnicity"? Sure it's a fact that I have japanese blood in me but if you knew me you wouldn't consider me japanese?

It's this kinda identiy issue that I think all hapas, eurasians, blasians, whatever, can relate to I think. Apparently it's not much easier for you; I find that a bit suprising. I've always thought that if my dad was white and if I was white/japanese instead of black/japanese it would be much easier to be accepted as japanese or something close to it, know what I mean?

Sorry if you couldn't understand that, I'll try to clarify if you don't understand.

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by Hiroshi2@Nov 19 2002, 04:05 AM
^Hello Hapa:

About that. I looked at the "Confused White Boy" thread and read your points about not being fully accepted as Japanese. I've known for a while that I would never be considered fully Japanese, so that brings me to the point: is there such a thing as half-japanese or half-anything? If I'm not fully Japanese, then maybe I'm not japanese at all. But you can't really say that because my mom is fully japanese, so I can't be completely non-japanese. But the thing is this: I don't speak fluent japanese, matter of fact I doubt I can speak it better than a 2 yr old japanese- I don't regularly eat japanese food, I don't know any japanese people, and for god's sake I know white kids who can read better japanese than me. So does the "japanese" in me become nothing more than some sort of DNA identification, what some have called "representative ethnicity"? Sure it's a fact that I have japanese blood in me but if you knew me you wouldn't consider me japanese?

It's this kinda identiy issue that I think all hapas, eurasians, blasians, whatever, can relate to I think. Apparently it's not much easier for you; I find that a bit suprising. I've always thought that if my dad was white and if I was white/japanese instead of black/japanese it would be much easier to be accepted as japanese or something close to it, know what I mean?

Sorry if you couldn't understand that, I'll try to clarify if you don't understand.
Hiroshi,

I'm not trying to answer for her at all because I don't really know how Japanese families react to their own family being halves, but basically from what I have observed here in Japan, the only halves who are really really accepted by everyone to be "Japanese" are the ones who grew up here, went to school here, and Japanese is their mother tongue. (Don't confuse that with mother's tongue ok?) I have yet to see or hear of a blasian who grew up in Japan (besides celebrities) so I can't say much about that, but of the 3 eurasians in my school, I don't think that anyone in the student body sees anything foreign about them at all.

I can see why you might think that white japanese mix would be more acceptable in some cases, and I'd have to agree with you, but that does not immediately give you a passport to being accepted as Japanese. Above everything if you were raised in the USA then most likely culturally you are American. The major difference between Japanese and American culture is that JApanese thrive on unity and conformity, where Americans are taught to express their own ideas and feelings as individuals.

If you are talking about Japanese American, then again, I don't know. It depends on the person you meet and how they get to know you.

In my case, if an asian person meets me through other Asian people then I'm generally thought to be Korean, but if they meet me through a white person then I am white.

I am interested to know how you are seen by Black people. Do they consider you part of the yellow race or are you a brother? Or is it both?

[Hiroshi2]

BetheReds:

I know that I will never be accepted as fully asian or japanese. I did grow up here in thes states, and have only been to japan once. I have no idea if my mom's family accepts me; I never see them (maybe that's a sign that they don't? I don't know, I hate to think that though)

About that last question. There really is no one answer. Some blacks (especially here in the South) still believe in one-drop rule, i.e. any ounce of black blood in you makes you black. So they'd consider me black. Some blacks do see me as different, as "that boy that got a chinese mama" (even though my mother is japanese). Others still will see me as mixed, but for the most part black. Some think it's exotic and say things like "I wonder what it'd be like if I had a japanese mom" or something to that effect. I don't think anyone black or any other race, considers me fully asian. It's not like I look fully asian, though people have commented on my "slit eyes" , high cheekbones, flat face and somewhat yellowish skin color and then someone might say something like, "that's cause his mom's japanese" or whatever.

I've never had anyone say directly, "you're black get over it", or anything of that nature. As a kid, the other black kids always tried to separate me that way, I was the only half-asian kid there. But of course, kids always try to do that kind of thing as far as pointing out differences and trying to make you feel bad because of them.

What I don't like is when they expect me to know everything about asian culture and ask me everything about it. I don't like doing that because i feel quite frankly i don't know enough about it to try to represnt asian culture; I simply tell them my personal experiences.

I've found that some blacks have some strange stereotypes about asians. Once I was asked by a black girl if i ate hamburgers and french fries (as if asians didn't eat those foods). I almost laughed my ass off. I always seem to get the karate/kung fu/taekwando questions, though. And if someone tries to tease me about it, they'll try to make stupid mandarin noises, etc.



Overall, I guess I'm seen as a black person with an asian mother <shrugs>

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by Hiroshi2@Nov 20 2002, 01:58 AM



Overall, I guess I'm seen as a black person with an asian mother <shrugs>
That's very interesting, because I have found that in most cases with Eurasians that look Asian, they are seen by whites as not white and they are seen by asians as not asian and that's where the identitiy crisesis set in.

Meanwhile the ones who look white are accepted as white by both asians and white people (my situation). White people who are not aware that minorities are present can say some pretty mean things about other people.

[Elizabeth A.]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Nov 15 2002, 03:52 PM
We are the new Americans. We are exotic. And now that we're at college (paying thirty grand a year) and spending our time delving into our innermost selves we're going to teach you about how unique you are.


"Hapa organizations on college campuses nationwide, and even courses on Hapas, one at San Francisco State University called 'Asians of Mixed Heritage.'"

What is there for self-professed Hapas to talk about?

For lack of a more articulate expression, Yeesh! It sound like Emma Goldman has an axe to grind.
First of all, what is so fundamentally bad about a college course on mixed-heritage Asians? I've done research and I can tell you there is plenty of unexplored, buried history in that area. I didn't even know it existed until I took an Asian-American studies course. By the way, I don't see Goldman weeping and shrieking over standard history courses that are filled with dead white males and little else.
Second, how has hapa culture been "packaged and sold"? Is this a west-coast phenomenon? I certainly don't see that happening in my locale.
And thirdly, the point Hello Hapa raised. Why does she exclude Black-Asian hapas? My guess is she wrote that essay as a personal rant, not a scholarly paper, and didn't feel the need to be inclusive.

[Craig]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@Nov 19 2002, 09:26 PM
That's very interesting, because I have found that in most cases with Eurasians that look Asian, they are seen by whites as not white and they are seen by asians as not asian and that's where the identitiy crisesis set in.
They can always change their name and lie about their ethnic identity if asked. They will easily get much better treatment from the majority of Asians, quite a number of Whites who will immediately feel less uncomfortable around them and diminish the incidence of a number of minor unnecessary inconveniences.

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by Elizabeth A.@Nov 20 2002, 02:56 AM

Second, how has hapa culture been "packaged and sold"? Is this a west-coast phenomenon? I certainly don't see that happening in my locale.

Well I don't think it has been packaged and sold in the Eastern US yet, but in the West and Hawaii I certainly think that it has.

This girl did a pretty good job of explaining how it has been packaged and sold.

The idea that mixes are unique and can be understood by other mixes, and that there is an actualy cohesiveness to our community, when really there is none at all. There is no one mixed culture.

Compare it to an asian who is born to asian parents and has asian relatives.

A mix in most cases does not have any other mixed relatives other than his or her siblings.

There is no one hapa culture that people can live their lives as, rather it is an idividual quest to find out who you yourself are or to just not worry about it.

So this "hapa culture" is an artificial construct of college students who are crying because they think they are tragically unique.

I can tell you for sure that when ever I have gone through any identity crisis, I never wanted to hear about anyone elses. So the idea that there is some kind of cultural similarity between me and a half white half chinese person on the west coast is proposterous.

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by Craig@Nov 20 2002, 03:02 AM

They can always change their name and lie about their ethnic identity if asked. They will easily get much better treatment from the majority of Asians, quite a number of Whites who will immediately feel less uncomfortable around them and diminish the incidence of a number of minor unnecessary inconveniences.
I'm not quite sure I follow you.

can you explain how changing your name would change anything?

Also do you mean changing from a european to an asian one? So you are leaving out the fact that some of us have asian dads?

[Elizabeth A.]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@Nov 19 2002, 07:11 PM
So the idea that there is some kind of cultural similarity between me and a half white half chinese person on the west coast is proposterous.
There is very little similarity, I'd venture to say almost none, between an ancient Roman scholar and a Viking, but there they are together in Western Civ 101.

I still say stop bashing the "poor pathetic crying little hapas" in academia for just a few seconds and take a long hard look at the more established areas first.

[Hiroshi2]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@Nov 19 2002, 06:26 PM
Originally posted by Hiroshi2@Nov 20 2002, 01:58 AM



Overall, I guess I'm seen as a black person with an asian mother <shrugs>
That's very interesting, because I have found that in most cases with Eurasians that look Asian, they are seen by whites as not white and they are seen by asians as not asian and that's where the identitiy crisesis set in.

Meanwhile the ones who look white are accepted as white by both asians and white people (my situation). White people who are not aware that minorities are present can say some pretty mean things about other people.
BetheReds:

Yeah I kinda figured that the whole PC-attitude was dropped once everyone in the room is white (or appears white).

From what I can tell, eurasians that look asian (and all the eurasians i know do) generally seem accepted by whites.

I really wouldn't know what it'd be like for a eurasian who actually looked white, i've never met one who did. Do you feel that you can use your white appearence to your advantage in some cases? Or do they look at your asian last name (i'm assuming that since you have an asian dad you have an asian surname) and treat you as eurasian or asian.

[BeTheReds]

Yea, actually I think almost any Asian person would be accepted by most whites that I know. I think what I meant to say was that asian looking eurasians are not seen as asian by asians and accepted by whites, but not really "understood".. you know what I mean? It's hard to explain.

Do you feel that you can use your white appearence to your advantage in some cases? Or do they look at your asian last name (i'm assuming that since you have an asian dad you have an asian surname) and treat you as eurasian or asian.

I don't see what advantage my white appearance gives me, other than I'm seen by white people who don't know me as one of them, and any benefit that that might bring I have probably always recieved so I don't think of it as an advantage.

My Asian last name has not done anything other than get strange questions asked. Tho the white people on my floor in my dorm during my sophomore year just called me yelloman, meanwhile they didn't bother to associate with the Korean guy on the floor at all.

[noriko]

i think i understand what you mean. at least in japan, a hapa will never be "japanese", unless you happened to have been born there and somehow look 100% japanese (and even then, who knows). the same thing even seems to happen in AA circles sometimes-- you're not seen as being a "real asian" if you're half something else. And white people, while they will probably accept someone of any race as a friend, will still not view you as "white". It's kind of like the people who were the children of white slaveowners and black women in the U.S. in the 17-1800s; they were never, ever accepted as white, no matter how white they looked, but they were treated with scorn by other slaves, too, and treated differently than an all-black or all-white person, by both groups.

i think that maybe *this* is why hapas tend to befriend or at least identify with other hapas--- because we're not really, in most situations, fully "accepted" by either white or asian people.

didn't i say i was going to bed? yeah. now I really am. really:)

[noriko]

no, i lied. one more thing:

this past weekend, the asian student's group here sponsored a half-korean/half-white comedian who came to campus. he made a joke: "i'm half asian and half caucasian, which makes me....caucasian." ha, ha, i get the pun, etc....but if you think about it on a deeper (ie, non-comedic level), is that really true? do you think half-asian people are really seen by white people as being "white" (ie, not a minority, not "different")?

[BeTheReds]

no i think they are seen by asians as being white.