the world needs more interracial babies
in fact the only way to end racism is to
have more interracial babies this quote
comes from KevJumba a popular youtuber
in a video from 2009 in which Kevin
argues against his parents wishes for
him to marry an Asian woman he says that
girls were more generally humans are
like M&Ms we may look different on the
outside but on the inside we all taste
although I don’t think that the key to
ending racism is through interracial
reproduction I find comfort in Kevin’s
statements because well I am interracial
the three minute long video does not
elaborate much more on Kevin’s vision
for dismantling racist structures
however as young half Japanese half
French and Irish children my siblings
and I loved the fact that someone
recognized our existence and also our
potential to contribute positively to
society growing up my parents would
always tell my siblings and me that we
are Hoppus has anyone ever heard the
term hapa before Hoppus are people of
mixed racial descent typically of Asian
or Pacific Islander heritage the term
comes from the Hawaiian word hop Aloha
which was originally a derogatory slur
for mixed racial children of plantation
workers who had come to the islands from
all over Asia the Pacific in the world
today fortunately the term is a source
of pride for people of mixed descent but
tapas have a unique situation in terms
of the composition and expression of our
identities we often operate in a context
of being in between two or more cultural
space
and our ability to claim these spaces is
often guarded by others who tell us that
we’re not fully capable of claiming them
we’re not always allowed to say that we
are this and that often times people
will look at us and determine that we
are this or that it’s a very very very
disempowering feeling to have someone
dictate your own identity isn’t it when
I was 17 years old I received a
scholarship to study at the Mahendra
United World College of India the
scholarship was branded by an American
philanthropist to American students to
study at the college as one of the
recipients of his scholarships I was
asked to be part of a group of students
that would welcome him during one of his
visits after receiving him at the main
gate of the campus and five minutes of
conversation he looked at me and he said
your English is very good
where are you from I was completely
shocked what do you mean where am i from
I wouldn’t mind much be very good I
thought I answered him calmly and
honestly and told him that I was a
student from Honolulu which he then
responded by asking but where are your
parents from again I was completely
floored but I told him well my parents
are from Michigan I felt the awkwardness
of the situation growing with every
passing millisecond so I quickly added
almost apologetically oh but my my dad’s
family is from Japan and all of a sudden
it made sense what I looked age’ and
yets
English like an American this is the
first time that I became acutely aware
of the fact that someone could question
my american-ness his question from my
from a person who was from the same
country as me of where are you from made
me realize that somehow there was a
dissonance between my being half asian
and my being American somehow because I
was the
former there was less of a chance that I
could be the latter it forced me to
question what exactly my identity was
and also what I could do to actively
shape it this interaction has left me
with questions that I have been trying
to answer for the past few years namely
am I truly in control of my own identity
I wanted to know how other people like
me would respond to such questions this
would provide me with an understanding a
broader understanding of how hafez are
able to negotiate the different aspects
of their identity so I have put together
a short video of interviews with some of
my classmates here it’s Yuans Po and the
ultimate purpose of this video is to
shed a light however small on how
hoppers are able to navigate between
being from different cultural
backgrounds in order to create a unique
expression of who they are so that
further adieu I hope that you’ll enjoy
this video my name is MIA Peck Suzuki
and I am half Japanese Japanese on my
father’s side and I am a mix of English
Irish and Welsh on my mother’s side
I’m Turkish and German is she’s horny
business I usually feel most Japanese
when I’m celebrating a Japanese holiday
with my family so for example my family
and I always celebrate will show that’s
it together Japanese New Year by example
is it becomes true at any kind of
hospital is it should sacrifice your mom
from say you see for example Donnie cow
Kentucky is in my group on feed if I
disappear after surgery SWAT of
confronts America the person who saw a
present who’s could adapt to develop our
city our GU drama just keep on my family
I’m ok
I feel most German when I’m with Germans
but in a different context so outside of
Germany when I was in Turkey with
Germans I would kill most Germans some
peace process is a more conscious feeble
bascarsija thoughtfully the debating
team I don’t like Julie banister picky
so Patty Duke we have a book with the
colors you should be permanent
some books on my man may pursue more
lucrative concealed epistles of tell us
more
I generally feel the most white or I
usually think of it as kind of like the
least Japanese when I’m celebrating
Christmas with my family
keeping cell this was effective but
example imagine God thought that if I
was dead she could float across mindful
to just on who this was comes up come
show host our customers I made them so
at least you know static comes when put
in that one section or keep an exam I
would always feel more Turkish when I
was around Turks abroad this happened
when I could see on spoke when I was
with Turks here or when I would go to
German mu n is the conference with Turks
abroad because I would see how much more
United I am with Turks Quebec
don’t contain my sonikku prease Ibanez
country of house parce que je de quoi
euros a month lucrative Rebennack so I
guess with a mini family were just like
you children y’know I really like my
last name because I think it’s really
explicit about Who I am and my
background because it’s Peck and Suzuki
Peck is a pretty common white name I
don’t know how common it is in Australia
or in England and Suzuki is pretty much
the most classically Japanese the most
common name you can possibly have my
family it’s become super have a better
job the more that confused about on
previous caution for security space
captures number two on Chucky someone
for my lips PKM is any good for say
American boy pushes for Thomas contagion
welcome says pellucida village in
maniago pressure passes to puma because
he comes in first name is similar my
middle names and my last name is Javon
and my parents met in the US so they
were pretty sure that they weren’t a
name that was not hard to spell like
Chawla sue you know so they wanted more
of a name which was more international
and so they decide on
and because it could be tomorrow in
Germany 10 in the US and more in Turkey
DoCoMo a savage weapon oceanic medic
patita like the Malik sir video SEO no
caretaker pastor on primo impossible to
shoot Jesus we don’t process it events
for me my kind of mixed identity is
really contextual and I think that
that’s pretty common for a lot of mixed
people so if I’m in a room full of white
people and we’re talking about our
backgrounds then I feel really really
Asian because I am the only one in the
room representing an Asian identity but
then on the other hand I remember moving
to Japan for a little while when I was
nine and suddenly I was surrounded by
only Japanese people and I was just not
Japanese at all I couldn’t speak
Japanese and I didn’t look Japanese to
them so I think for me being mixed is a
lot about representing yourself really
differently in completely different
contexts I feel these Turkish or these
German when I’m in a homogeneous group
and I can see how I have different
aspects in some areas and that just
makes me question myself and ask myself
why am i different in that sense and
that makes me feel less Turkish or let’s
turn bascarsija see the W nationality
Sybil a Christmas Santa
some books offices with smallpox and
Ibanez separate come a problem imagery
to come Katrice do beyond in bunches
that commence if you pass some books on
Ted Cruz you’re baptized your
interpretation as affirmative Robin in
certain web show this precursor rappers
Heba salmon with blonde I mean from
Jennifer clowns wrong that kills half of
Somalis you know if I come before you
sometimes with hospice QC
can coach whiskey to fabric you draw and
you could perform complete but
ostentatious yeah first captions do
dementia I think that for me is
something that I fall into a lot about
being half white and half Japanese is
that whenever people ask me what I am
are wearing from I always say I’m half
Japanese
as if my Japanese is what needs to be
made more explicit it kind of puts me
back into reinforcing the idea that
whiteness is kind of this norm and that
whiteness is the backdrop against which
like my Japanese Miss has been added so
I think maybe I should start being like
oh I’m half white or my mother is
Australian or something like that the
history of mixed racial people or hafez
is inextricably linked to the history of
racism in the 1930 report on an
investigation into the color problem of
Liverpool and other ports social
scientists found that hybrid children or
half-caste children the children of
interracial relationships were
inherently sickly and unnatural
until loving versus Virginia in 1967 it
was illegal for interracial couples to
get married in 16 states in the u.s.
until 1994 the apartheid regime in South
Africa strictly prohibited interracial
relations so although we have existed
throughout history it has only been
recently that we have been able to shake
the social stigma that comes with being
half of something and to embrace and
celebrate our plural identities Papa’s
by virtue of their nature may not
present the key to ending racism as
KevJumba one success suggested but I
like to think that tapas represent the
physical manifestation of the confluence
of different cultures in listening to
our stories we can see how being from
two or more backgrounds lends us the
sort of openness of spirit that kami
points out as we grew up exposed to
different cultures and ideas indeed a
number of different studies in
psychology and sociology have found that
children who grow up exposed to
different cultures or languages think
differently and are much more open and
more tolerant than children who do not
so this has implications beyond just
Hoppus but more of people who grew up
with a diverse environment
so as Mia points out when we say that
we’re half Japanese we’re assuming that
our non-white identity is what needs to
be made explicit there’s something that
we simply add to the nun to the white
background this has forced me to rethink
how I introduce myself I’ve began to
question why it is that I always assume
that the answer people are looking for
when they ask me where are you from is
some form of Asian maybe the next time
someone asks me I should just tell them
I’m half French and Irish a common theme
however that runs throughout the
interviews and that resonate with my
experience is that identity is always
contextual how people perceive you is
largely based not only on how who those
people are but where you are growing up
in Honolulu living in India and living
in France now I have seen that my
identity is based on how people see me
in Honolulu where many people are mixed
Asian descent
I was probably another hapa in India
where I was one of the only Americans at
my school I was so typically American in
France however everyone asked me do bl2
it don’t pay so when I think about being
a hapa I think about it as something
that doesn’t limit me I don’t want to be
seen as only halves or quarters of
something else
my father is japanese-american his
family immigrated to the US when he was
a child my mother is an American with
French and Irish heritage so technically
speaking I am Japanese a quarter Irish
and a quarter French but if you ask me
how I want to be known I will simply tell you I am muhabba thank you
in fact the only way to end racism is to
have more interracial babies this quote
comes from KevJumba a popular youtuber
in a video from 2009 in which Kevin
argues against his parents wishes for
him to marry an Asian woman he says that
girls were more generally humans are
like M&Ms we may look different on the
outside but on the inside we all taste
although I don’t think that the key to
ending racism is through interracial
reproduction I find comfort in Kevin’s
statements because well I am interracial
the three minute long video does not
elaborate much more on Kevin’s vision
for dismantling racist structures
however as young half Japanese half
French and Irish children my siblings
and I loved the fact that someone
recognized our existence and also our
potential to contribute positively to
society growing up my parents would
always tell my siblings and me that we
are Hoppus has anyone ever heard the
term hapa before Hoppus are people of
mixed racial descent typically of Asian
or Pacific Islander heritage the term
comes from the Hawaiian word hop Aloha
which was originally a derogatory slur
for mixed racial children of plantation
workers who had come to the islands from
all over Asia the Pacific in the world
today fortunately the term is a source
of pride for people of mixed descent but
tapas have a unique situation in terms
of the composition and expression of our
identities we often operate in a context
of being in between two or more cultural
space
and our ability to claim these spaces is
often guarded by others who tell us that
we’re not fully capable of claiming them
we’re not always allowed to say that we
are this and that often times people
will look at us and determine that we
are this or that it’s a very very very
disempowering feeling to have someone
dictate your own identity isn’t it when
I was 17 years old I received a
scholarship to study at the Mahendra
United World College of India the
scholarship was branded by an American
philanthropist to American students to
study at the college as one of the
recipients of his scholarships I was
asked to be part of a group of students
that would welcome him during one of his
visits after receiving him at the main
gate of the campus and five minutes of
conversation he looked at me and he said
your English is very good
where are you from I was completely
shocked what do you mean where am i from
I wouldn’t mind much be very good I
thought I answered him calmly and
honestly and told him that I was a
student from Honolulu which he then
responded by asking but where are your
parents from again I was completely
floored but I told him well my parents
are from Michigan I felt the awkwardness
of the situation growing with every
passing millisecond so I quickly added
almost apologetically oh but my my dad’s
family is from Japan and all of a sudden
it made sense what I looked age’ and
yets
English like an American this is the
first time that I became acutely aware
of the fact that someone could question
my american-ness his question from my
from a person who was from the same
country as me of where are you from made
me realize that somehow there was a
dissonance between my being half asian
and my being American somehow because I
was the
former there was less of a chance that I
could be the latter it forced me to
question what exactly my identity was
and also what I could do to actively
shape it this interaction has left me
with questions that I have been trying
to answer for the past few years namely
am I truly in control of my own identity
I wanted to know how other people like
me would respond to such questions this
would provide me with an understanding a
broader understanding of how hafez are
able to negotiate the different aspects
of their identity so I have put together
a short video of interviews with some of
my classmates here it’s Yuans Po and the
ultimate purpose of this video is to
shed a light however small on how
hoppers are able to navigate between
being from different cultural
backgrounds in order to create a unique
expression of who they are so that
further adieu I hope that you’ll enjoy
this video my name is MIA Peck Suzuki
and I am half Japanese Japanese on my
father’s side and I am a mix of English
Irish and Welsh on my mother’s side
I’m Turkish and German is she’s horny
business I usually feel most Japanese
when I’m celebrating a Japanese holiday
with my family so for example my family
and I always celebrate will show that’s
it together Japanese New Year by example
is it becomes true at any kind of
hospital is it should sacrifice your mom
from say you see for example Donnie cow
Kentucky is in my group on feed if I
disappear after surgery SWAT of
confronts America the person who saw a
present who’s could adapt to develop our
city our GU drama just keep on my family
I’m ok
I feel most German when I’m with Germans
but in a different context so outside of
Germany when I was in Turkey with
Germans I would kill most Germans some
peace process is a more conscious feeble
bascarsija thoughtfully the debating
team I don’t like Julie banister picky
so Patty Duke we have a book with the
colors you should be permanent
some books on my man may pursue more
lucrative concealed epistles of tell us
more
I generally feel the most white or I
usually think of it as kind of like the
least Japanese when I’m celebrating
Christmas with my family
keeping cell this was effective but
example imagine God thought that if I
was dead she could float across mindful
to just on who this was comes up come
show host our customers I made them so
at least you know static comes when put
in that one section or keep an exam I
would always feel more Turkish when I
was around Turks abroad this happened
when I could see on spoke when I was
with Turks here or when I would go to
German mu n is the conference with Turks
abroad because I would see how much more
United I am with Turks Quebec
don’t contain my sonikku prease Ibanez
country of house parce que je de quoi
euros a month lucrative Rebennack so I
guess with a mini family were just like
you children y’know I really like my
last name because I think it’s really
explicit about Who I am and my
background because it’s Peck and Suzuki
Peck is a pretty common white name I
don’t know how common it is in Australia
or in England and Suzuki is pretty much
the most classically Japanese the most
common name you can possibly have my
family it’s become super have a better
job the more that confused about on
previous caution for security space
captures number two on Chucky someone
for my lips PKM is any good for say
American boy pushes for Thomas contagion
welcome says pellucida village in
maniago pressure passes to puma because
he comes in first name is similar my
middle names and my last name is Javon
and my parents met in the US so they
were pretty sure that they weren’t a
name that was not hard to spell like
Chawla sue you know so they wanted more
of a name which was more international
and so they decide on
and because it could be tomorrow in
Germany 10 in the US and more in Turkey
DoCoMo a savage weapon oceanic medic
patita like the Malik sir video SEO no
caretaker pastor on primo impossible to
shoot Jesus we don’t process it events
for me my kind of mixed identity is
really contextual and I think that
that’s pretty common for a lot of mixed
people so if I’m in a room full of white
people and we’re talking about our
backgrounds then I feel really really
Asian because I am the only one in the
room representing an Asian identity but
then on the other hand I remember moving
to Japan for a little while when I was
nine and suddenly I was surrounded by
only Japanese people and I was just not
Japanese at all I couldn’t speak
Japanese and I didn’t look Japanese to
them so I think for me being mixed is a
lot about representing yourself really
differently in completely different
contexts I feel these Turkish or these
German when I’m in a homogeneous group
and I can see how I have different
aspects in some areas and that just
makes me question myself and ask myself
why am i different in that sense and
that makes me feel less Turkish or let’s
turn bascarsija see the W nationality
Sybil a Christmas Santa
some books offices with smallpox and
Ibanez separate come a problem imagery
to come Katrice do beyond in bunches
that commence if you pass some books on
Ted Cruz you’re baptized your
interpretation as affirmative Robin in
certain web show this precursor rappers
Heba salmon with blonde I mean from
Jennifer clowns wrong that kills half of
Somalis you know if I come before you
sometimes with hospice QC
can coach whiskey to fabric you draw and
you could perform complete but
ostentatious yeah first captions do
dementia I think that for me is
something that I fall into a lot about
being half white and half Japanese is
that whenever people ask me what I am
are wearing from I always say I’m half
Japanese
as if my Japanese is what needs to be
made more explicit it kind of puts me
back into reinforcing the idea that
whiteness is kind of this norm and that
whiteness is the backdrop against which
like my Japanese Miss has been added so
I think maybe I should start being like
oh I’m half white or my mother is
Australian or something like that the
history of mixed racial people or hafez
is inextricably linked to the history of
racism in the 1930 report on an
investigation into the color problem of
Liverpool and other ports social
scientists found that hybrid children or
half-caste children the children of
interracial relationships were
inherently sickly and unnatural
until loving versus Virginia in 1967 it
was illegal for interracial couples to
get married in 16 states in the u.s.
until 1994 the apartheid regime in South
Africa strictly prohibited interracial
relations so although we have existed
throughout history it has only been
recently that we have been able to shake
the social stigma that comes with being
half of something and to embrace and
celebrate our plural identities Papa’s
by virtue of their nature may not
present the key to ending racism as
KevJumba one success suggested but I
like to think that tapas represent the
physical manifestation of the confluence
of different cultures in listening to
our stories we can see how being from
two or more backgrounds lends us the
sort of openness of spirit that kami
points out as we grew up exposed to
different cultures and ideas indeed a
number of different studies in
psychology and sociology have found that
children who grow up exposed to
different cultures or languages think
differently and are much more open and
more tolerant than children who do not
so this has implications beyond just
Hoppus but more of people who grew up
with a diverse environment
so as Mia points out when we say that
we’re half Japanese we’re assuming that
our non-white identity is what needs to
be made explicit there’s something that
we simply add to the nun to the white
background this has forced me to rethink
how I introduce myself I’ve began to
question why it is that I always assume
that the answer people are looking for
when they ask me where are you from is
some form of Asian maybe the next time
someone asks me I should just tell them
I’m half French and Irish a common theme
however that runs throughout the
interviews and that resonate with my
experience is that identity is always
contextual how people perceive you is
largely based not only on how who those
people are but where you are growing up
in Honolulu living in India and living
in France now I have seen that my
identity is based on how people see me
in Honolulu where many people are mixed
Asian descent
I was probably another hapa in India
where I was one of the only Americans at
my school I was so typically American in
France however everyone asked me do bl2
it don’t pay so when I think about being
a hapa I think about it as something
that doesn’t limit me I don’t want to be
seen as only halves or quarters of
something else
my father is japanese-american his
family immigrated to the US when he was
a child my mother is an American with
French and Irish heritage so technically
speaking I am Japanese a quarter Irish
and a quarter French but if you ask me
how I want to be known I will simply tell you I am muhabba thank you
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