WeAreHapa.com - The Social Support Network for Multi-Cultural Individuals

Tina

It's funny when people talk in a differnt language to get a response from us who look partially azn. I don't really look much japanese, but my sister does. When we go out, azn ppl look at her and try to figure her out. Once a japanese woman spoke to my sister assuming that she could speak. WEll when I responded, she was so confused, because I don't look like the azn one she expected a response from. It was odd.

46 months ago

Sima

 People always think I'm Mexican probably because most people are mexican in new mexico but they always talk to me in Spanish and ask If I'm sure I'm not Mexican. 

46 months ago

nina

yeah. i get the hispanic thing too. a lot. and they accuse me of denying my roots and all that shiznit. but that was mainly when i was younger and working in retail and had darker skin.

when i was in europe a dude from south dakota asked me "how did you get so dark".....this is when i didn't have a tan.....i was like umm i came out of my mom this color?!?!? wtf? i guess he isn't aware of any other ethnicities or races besides black and white....so he was a bit confused cuz i didn't look white but i wasn't black....but i had somewhat tan skin.....lol. i was flabbergasted. really....i think he wanted to know what i was but couldn't come up with anything better than asking how i got so dark.

but the funniest story is when i went up north...in cali...and went into a gas station....the lady at the counter asked me a question that i interpreted to be "do you have your travel card" and i was like wtf is a travel card so i said no....so then i go back to the car and my sister goes...cool if your from the reservation and have a tribal card you get a discount! and i was like oooooooooohhhhh....that lady asked if i had my "tribal card"......lol she thought i was native american....granted i was wearing a kinda sweater that might have looked ethnic...whatever that means....but it was kinda funny. and can't hate on the native americans.

but anyways its just kinda frustrating in general that everyone boxes people into preconcieved ideas and what not....sometimes i do it too.....but being from different cultures i think i am more aware of not assuming ethnicities.....but i also hate it when people think i have no korean influence at all .............but this usually comes from my friends with no direct link to a different cultural background....meaning my white friends. so it's hard to relate on all sides. but anyways i think i am going on a tangent...blah blah blah....

46 months ago

Jared

yeah.. I look mostly white.. so when Im in korea I get to hear the white guys go on and on about their Asian fetishes.. its great.

 

Or when Im eating dinner with my mother and getting 100's of weird stares.

 

but.. people who are just ignorant, I try to educate them. When they are being a smartass is when I get pissed off.

46 months ago

Cari

Hey Athena!
Just stumbled on this blog of yours. I just wanted to say I know exactly how you feel and where your coming from. The ignorancy in our society is so rampant that it's almost ridiculous when you really take the time to think about it. I tend to think that the reason people are passive of mixed race people, their issues and their feelings has more to do with people in general being self-centered. They say "hey as long as it's not me being affected then who cares". This country also has a history to one drop people. Your right your mixed and that should be recognized but the ignorant people out there will want to say your just asian..completely shunning out your white side (which in of itself as you describe is very very diverse). At the end of the day I think we mixies must find solutions that will reverse these trends in the long term. In the mean time Athena I know where your coming from and I totally support you girl!
-Cari Winfield

43 months ago

Cari

i feel ya. people do that to me all the time. lol i tell them i'm mixed. they go "ohhh. i thought you were full asian!" (looks closer at my face). me: ".....?" the language thing happens to me too. i was waiting at a bus stop when i noticed two old chinese ladies staring at me. they looked at me as though they were trying to figure out whether to approach. then one of them came up to me and said "do you speak mandarin or cantonese?" me: "...neither??" haha it turned out she needed directions somewhere, so i stayed with her and helped her get off at the right stop. but that stuff happens to me all the time. sometimes people just start speaking a language right when they see me, expecting me to understand it. lol

39 months ago