My friend posted this article the other day and it definitely struck me.
http://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2014/7/22/why-mixed-white-isnt-white
I have been told my entire life that I am just as "white" as all my "white" friends. That is a completely false statement. I am American and culturally I am 100% western, but I am not "white". I was adopted by a Military American couple and have been raised in an 100% western culture. That does not make me "white"...it makes me a western American. My cultural background does not change my race or genetics. I know...I've had my DNA analyzed. I am 99.8% Asian and even in that spectrum I am only 50.2% Korean. Most Korean's have Japanese and Chinese composition...which makes sense since Korea was inhabited by both races for very long periods of time. I am 28.4% Japanese and 13.5% Chinese and I even have some Mongolian in there. I am also .01% European.
Being a Korean American adoptee does not in any way change that I am a westerner by culture. Being a westerner does not in any way mean that I am "white" and that I am not Asian. There were many Korean orphans that were adopted internationally. There are many in Europe and culturally they are European and not Western American...and still that does not change their race.
I do joke and tell people that I am only Korean on the outside. And again...that is a cultural reference. We all know that "white" is just a cultural term used to describe people that are generally European descent and who do not show typical mixed race characteristics.
As my 12 year old is getting older...she is more firm regarding her identity. My daughter who is 50.1% European and 49.9% Asian tells me regularly that she thinks that she looks "white". If you have seen my page you have seen her pictures. She looks mixed, but I feel that there is no denying that she is Asian. She does not want to look "Asian" and that stuns me. Her concept of being a Western American incorporates the ideal that she would rather identify as "white" rather than Korean. We live in a rural area and she has attended the same school for 8 years. She has a diverse group of friends, but ironically the only two other Asian girls that she knows at her school...were adopted by American families. She thankfully hasn't been subjected to anything overtly racist that I know of. She doesn't have any negative connotations about being Asian. She just sees being "white" as her desired race. When we got her DNA results back (her biological father was adopted also - so I was very curious as to her genetics) she turned to me, after seeing that she is .2% more European than Asian, and said, "See, I told you I look white."
Perhaps I cling more to my Korean identity as an adult because I was adopted and I stuck out in my "white" family. As an adult I have learned that it is ok to be proud of your culture and of your race...even if they are not the same. I was teased as a child for being Asian. All the the stereotypical taunts that you hear about...they are exactly what I heard...and are also what many Asian kids heard growing up. It was even stranger for me to comprehend because I was part of an Irish-Italian family. As I grew up the same ignorant types of people still say the same ignorant types of things..."Your English is so good", "Your parents must have been really strict", "How long have you been here?"...and my answer to these questions has always been centered around the fact that I was adopted by Americans. That has just been my go too answer. The truth is that there are millions of Asians in America that weren't adopted, but whose families have been in this country for multiple generations and they are Americans. That is why their "English is good". They were American citizens when their families were interned during WWII. They were American citizens when other Americans were taunting them for being gooks during the Korean & Vietnam wars and they are still Americans today...they just aren't "White" Americans.
Thankfully, I don't believe that my daughter has experienced that. If she had then I would see more of a correlation to wanting to be identified as white...which only leaves me to believe that she also doesn't understand that relating 100% to western culture and not Asian culture does not change her race. I realize now, that I need to teach her more about culture and race. I realize that I need to teach her that our culture has mistreated other races and mixed races for generations. I realize that I need to teach her that wanting to be "white" can have bad connotations and that many people in this country are still not accepting of other races wanting to be like "white" people. I realize that I need to teach her that racism still exists - no matter how strong she feels about being an American and how absorbed she is in Western Culture...one day she will experience true racism.
I have experienced the "white" privilege effect first hand...my mixed race daughter tells me she looks white. She does not want to be known as Korean or American or even Asian American...she just wants to say that she is "White"...
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