Immigrants

[YuheiCarreau]

Probably the most annoying thing about being a Hapa (besides the "What are you?" question) is when people assume I'm confused or frustrated about being from two different cultures. I have never, ever in my life wanted to be solely Asian or solely White; yet often Hapas are assumed to be or portrayed as longing to be more than just "half". As a child, when I was teased or bullied for being part White or part Asian, I wished that I could be normal and accepted; but I never once wished to not be a Hapa.

My point is that Hapa is a culture unto itself, not a 'best of' or a 'worst of' or a combo platter of other cultures. More often than not a Hapa's only long-term exposure to other Hapas is his siblings, and although his parents can teach their children about their individual cultures and how they share them in their relationship they just can't teach them about Hapa culture (unless we're talking about a multigenerational Hapa family). So Hapas are immigrants to their own culture.

Any thoughts on this? That phrase just popped into my head the other day, and I wanted to get some opinions.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

heh. i get pissed off in the first place by people assuming I'm "from two cultures" in the way they're expecting anyway.

interesting angle, anyway, with your soundbite. hehe. okay this probably doesn't make much sense., but I guess I've always realized that when it comes down having questions about being Chinese, I definitely can't ask my parents. or my sister. Great Uncle's not around to be asked either. so basically, I rely on my friends for that kinda stuff more than anyone else i know. which is kinda kid-of-immigrant in reverse.

[BeTheReds]

That best of both worlds saying sucks. I hate it.

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@Dec 3 2002, 07:25 PM
That best of both worlds saying sucks. I hate it.
Yeah... That or "you must have been a beautiful baby", which is the response I get a lot (usually from people who didn't KNOW until I told 'em); which makes me think, "Well what the hell do I look like now?" :angry:

[kimpossible]

A lot of times I feel I'm looked at as the poster girl for race mixing and interracial marriage. (Hapa married to Asian) I hate that. I am what I am. It's not cool or fun, it's just my life.

I've literally got people waiting for me to have children so they can babysit. I'm the only person I know with so many ppl lined up to babysit. The all ooh and ahh about what beautiful mixed babies we'll have -- they make it sound like I'm going to birth rare puppies or something.

Haven't made up my mind about a Hapa culture yet but I've noticed that I find I have a lot in common with what hiroshi and noriko post.

[BeTheReds]

All this halves and doubles and crap is bullshit.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Dec 3 2002, 08:57 PM
I've literally got people waiting for me to have children so they can babysit. I'm the only person I know with so many ppl lined up to babysit. The all ooh and ahh about what beautiful mixed babies we'll have -- they make it sound like I'm going to birth rare puppies or something.
hapa jie jie please don't kill me but hahhahha that is funny as hell... :)

[thaite]

Hmm, this thread seems to have devitated from the title into a general rant, so I'll just join in.

Woke up this morning in a crappy mood upon the realization that possibilities with two prospective females this year failed because of race: the first, because I wasn't "Chinese enough" in her eyes, never mind the fact that I'm not even Chinese at all. The second was a self-confessed Anglophile and indicated more or less that I wasn't White enough.

Sheesh.

[loserbutt]

er what does this have to do with immigrants?

I like em, even the illegal ones. I always am perplexed by people who hate immigrants, since for them their families were once immigrants

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by loserbutt@Dec 4 2002, 01:00 PM
er what does this have to do with immigrants?
The idea is that a Hapa learns about his Hapa culture without help from previous generations of his family, immigrating to his own culture the way a Chinese person immigrates to a foreign culture like the US.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@Dec 4 2002, 11:47 AM
The idea is that a Hapa learns about his Hapa culture without help from previous generations of his family, immigrating to his own culture the way a Chinese person immigrates to a foreign culture like the US.
Would you say that it drives us to find each other? Or not?

[thaite]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Dec 4 2002, 12:51 PM
Would you say that it drives us to find each other? Or not?
Could be. I love meeting other hapas, probably because of what I said in my earlier post.

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Dec 4 2002, 01:51 PM
Would you say that it drives us to find each other? Or not?
Definitely. This forum was a major draw for me to keep hanging around Yellowworld.org; as far as I know, it's the only Asian activist site that doesn't either snub Hapas or just plain ignore them.

I really am beginning to believe in Hapa being a distinct cultural group, albeit one that is generally not self-sustaining and one that is quite diverse, as it is made of a number of different Asian cultures mixed with any number of non-Asian cultures; even greater mixing if you include mixed-race people without Asian heritage. I'm sick of how there are a million insults against Hapas, words like "mongrel" and "half-breed", yet the highest (and really the only) compliment payed to a Hapa is "you get the best of both worlds" (or the 'beautiful babies' thing). Why should a mixed person's culture be dependant on the two (or more) cultures it came from? Obviously without the two coming together, there would be no Hapa, but it needles me that most people only see me as having a combination of two existing cultures, rather than a culture unto itself.

Hmmmm... Maybe next I should write a "Hapa Manifesto"...

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@Dec 4 2002, 04:13 PM
Definitely. This forum was a major draw for me to keep hanging around Yellowworld.org; as far as I know, it's the only Asian activist site that doesn't either snub Hapas or just plain ignore them.

The things I have to endure to keep the hapa forum in existence: supply drugs, sexual favors, blackmail...

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@Dec 4 2002, 07:13 PM
Definitely. This forum was a major draw for me to keep hanging around Yellowworld.org; as far as I know, it's the only Asian activist site that doesn't either snub Hapas or just plain ignore them.

I really am beginning to believe in Hapa being a distinct cultural group, albeit one that is generally not self-sustaining and one that is quite diverse, as it is made of a number of different Asian cultures mixed with any number of non-Asian cultures; even greater mixing if you include mixed-race people without Asian heritage. I'm sick of how there are a million insults against Hapas, words like "mongrel" and "half-breed", yet the highest (and really the only) compliment payed to a Hapa is "you get the best of both worlds" (or the 'beautiful babies' thing). Why should a mixed person's culture be dependant on the two (or more) cultures it came from? Obviously without the two coming together, there would be no Hapa, but it needles me that most people only see me as having a combination of two existing cultures, rather than a culture unto itself.

Hmmmm... Maybe next I should write a "Hapa Manifesto"...
you may be interested to know about the Baba Nonya people of southeast asia. they came from the mix-marriages of Peranakan people and Chinese people, and they are now recognised as a distinct cultural group. :)

another group off the top of my head that i know of is really an extremely extremely small group. they are called Macanese. they live in the tiny city of Macau (right next to HK). Macau had been a Portuguese colony for about 400 years until 1999 when it returned to Chinese control. The Macanese people came from mix-marriages between Portuguese people and Chinese people.

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Dec 4 2002, 06:24 PM
The things I have to endure to keep the hapa forum in existence: supply drugs, sexual favors, blackmail...
:blink: Well, we're all thankful for your sacrifices :dance:

[maldito]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@Dec 3 2002, 08:21 AM
(unless we're talking about a multigenerational Hapa family).


I was going to add a comment but read this within your post. :)

Hawaii's culture is so differnet compared to what most hapas are experiencing now. But it is really stressed on many people in Hawai'i to be proud of what you are. That you are this and that and this and that, not that just b/c you are mixed you are now something slightly different.

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by maldito@Dec 4 2002, 09:10 PM
Hawaii's culture is so differnet compared to what most hapas are experiencing now. But it is really stressed on many people in Hawai'i to be proud of what you are. That you are this and that and this and that, not that just b/c you are mixed you are now something slightly different.
I've been to Hawaii a couple times as a kid on vacation and only noticed the swimming pools and beaches, but my family all went together the summer after my twin sister and I graduated from high school (sort of the last trip that included the whole family) and I definitely felt more at home / more accepted there than any of the other places I've visited. It's a huge change from New York and the east coast, where there are many cultures but they live elbow-to-elbow and complain bitterly about it.