Passing

[Cipherous]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

Gah, my dad's idea of Asian cuisine was throwing hot dogs in some ramen noodles.

I used to do that. Ramen ain't bad.

add some eggs, carrots, vegetable mixes and its fine dining.

back to the topic at hand though

hapas stuck in anti Asian surroundings. What do you do?

[AngryABCGirl]

It seems like life could be easier if you could pass as white.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

Gah, my dad's idea of Asian cuisine was throwing hot dogs in some ramen noodles.

believe it or not, they serve this in many low-end restaurants in HK where they give you your food in about 5 minutes.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by AzNBuffGrL

It seems like life could be easier if you could pass as white.

what if you're surrounded by more Asian people than white people?

[rice cracker]

I've merged the two threads regarding passing for white.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

I've merged the two threads regarding passing for white.

baby, i think that was your first merge.
it was beautiful.

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by professor frink

p.s.s. the idea of passing never really came up for my situation (asian and white community). but i'm sure i've "adapted" so to speak, in different environments when necessary.

Elaborate?

[Chester]

Originally Posted by professor frink

but i'm sure i've "adapted" so to speak, in different environments when necessary.

So've I...and I'm not even hapa!

[Ron]

Ok, here's my breakdown, just found it out (over again!): My Dad is 50% Scottish, 12.5% Spanish, and 37.5% Native American Indian. My Mom is 50% Thai, 25% Indian (Indians from India, not Native Americans), and 25% Shan Chinese. Also, please note that my Dad appears as White, and my Mom appears as Asian, thus I may term myself a hapa.

Also, all experiences below are relating to White/Asian hapas. A lot of my hapa friends (almost 1/2 of them) are some mix other thah White and Asian, but I'm mainly pertaining to White and Asian experiences below, because, Whites are the majority in this country, and a hapa passing as White has different experiences than a hapa passing as Black, etc.

Now all my siblings and I look Asian. Even my directly younger brother, who I thought looked White (we grew up in a mainly Asian environment in Hawaii as kids), actually looks quite a lot more Asian than a lot the hapas on this board.

Passing as White invokes some jealousy. I was slightly jealous seeing some other hapa kids in our Minnesota middle/high school ages trying to actively pass as White, almost like abandoning their Asian heritage. But what could they do, wear a shirt that says "I'm 1/2 Asian, 1/2 White, you uncultured Midwest mofos!" But then I realize that they weren't on a higher dimensional plane that I was on , i.e. I realized that I'm 1/2 and 1/2, not one. I also got help that a kid gave me a nickname of "Scasian", which I resented at first, but accepted it later on, knowing that they'll only call me Scasian if they want people to know I'm 1/2 and 1/2, not when addressing me or chatting around at all. That helped a lot in people getting to know that I was 1/2 and 1/2. This got a lot of other hapa kids I knew into promoting their 1/2 and 1/2 image, but hey, what can I say, I was an activist back then! But I always went along as Asian if we were discussing an important debate in any government/civics/etc related class, such as racial relations, racism, etc. But that didn't matter anyway, as by then, everyone knew I was hapa, even though at first class, I may appear Asian of some sort.

Even so, I bet a lot of hapas were jealous of us in Hawaii (previously living there from age 3-12, before moving to Minnesota for ages 12-18, now I'm living in Thailand for a bay area college credits program) for looking a lot more Asian than them, probably thinking we're the "lucky Asian ones." What hapas try to pass as mainly involves the environment, it's that simple. The genetics are all annoying in the first place, it's hard to find someone who looks blatantly mixed. Seems like most of us are appearance-wise looking more White or Asian.

But then again, why should I comment? I'm not even a real hapa, I'm the multiracial person you've all been striving for!

[rice cracker]

Ron1, why were you jealous of the hapa kids that passed as white? It sounds more like you felt sorry for them.

[Proxy]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

Ron1, why were you jealous of the hapa kids that passed as white? It sounds more like you felt sorry for them.

Rice you look like a normal asian girl to me. How did you manage to pass as a white girl? Your hair, your eyes.... seems like a normal AA chick.

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by Proxy

Rice you look like a normal asian girl to me. How did you manage to pass as a white girl? Your hair, your eyes.... seems like a normal AA chick.

It's kind of funny, non-whites can usually tell I'm mixed, but whites almost never see it.

As for a normal AA chick...yeah...sure...

[SunWuKong]

oh by the way. sorry for completely steering the discussion off track.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

oh by the way. sorry for completely steering the discussion off track.

This discussion has had almost nothing to do with passing since about page 1 (or at least my page 1).

[SynRG]

Once in Taipei when I was 17 I got pulled over driving w/o a license. I pretended not to speak any Chinese (known to us bratty expat kids as the "dumb foreigner defense"). He let me off w/ a warning.

Once in Minneapolis when I was underage but had an ID (Taiwan Drivers License) I pretended not to speak any English. Funny thing was, since Taiwan (or the Nationalists, anyways) reset their calendar back to "0" in 1911, my license said I was born in "69." I got in to the club.

Those aren't so much passing for a particular race as they are just passing for a foreigner, tho. I guess it's not really the same.