More than Asian

"If you, Alissa, and Hana were white, I'd be concerned," my friend, Rachel commented.   "Why?"   "Because I'd question why we were all white."

Why is race so important?

I asked Rachel, who is white, why people couldn't just look past someone's race. I argued that a person's race does not encompass who they are. People are more than their race.

    "When I was playing badminton, I felt uncomfortable. Out of place," Rachel admitted.

    "Why?"

    Because nearly everyone on the badminton team is Asian.

    Speaking for my badminton team as it was in 2013, we were not an exclusive or racist team. Though the majority of us were Asian, some of the strongest players on our team were white and everyone treated each other with respect.  Why did Rachel feel uncomfortable?

    She could not see past our team’s racial majority.

    To her, we were not individuals, people with different interests, personalities, nationalities, favorite foods, and family lives. She saw us as a collective. “Asians.”

     Yes, I acknowledge that Racial Clumping is a thing.

     It occurs due to:

    Similar backgrounds:

  My Asian (and Southeast Asian and Hispanic) friends can relate to similar home-experiences. The beatings, the curfews, the limited freedoms, the constant nagging by one’s parents to ‘study’ because ‘that’s why you’re in a America, to get a better education.’ We can talk about these relatable experiences.

     

   Some of my white friends, on the other hand, are narrow-minded regarding child parenting. They push me to ‘rebel’ and argue that ‘I am an adult’ and should be treated as such. Having been brought up in a different home environment, I am open to their ideas. However, instead of empathizing with my situation, they criticize it. As “open” as they say they are, they can be ignorant regarding culturally clashing ideologies.

   

  Language:

 Especially for international students, being able to communicate with people who speak a similar language can make transitioning to a new school or making new friends more comfortable.

    Those who do not speak this language find the language-clumping too exclusive. It is. But, honestly. If your accent was criticized or made a fuss about every time you spoke English, you’d get tired of it too.

    I have a lot more Asian friends than White friends.

Yes, I have a ton of Asian friends compared to my white friends. But it's not like I go out of my way to make friends with Asian people. I make friends. A lot of them happen to be Asian.

     Constantly moving more uptown as my parents, both immigrants, gained greater financial standing, I ended up in schools and daycares in different areas throughout the insanely diversity city in California where I grew up. I experienced life as both the racial minority and majority, intermingled with Asians, Caucasians, Persians, Indians, Hispanics, Blacks, and made friends and met so many people along the way.

    

    Obviously, I met kids lived up to stereotypes. Of course I heard “I’m an Asian, not a Basian” jokes or terminology like “banana” and “oreo” and “white-washed” and etc. Nevertheless, I figured these were things people grew out of in high school. No one took racism seriously. That was a problem back when my parents came to America and signs that read, “No Dogs Allowed,” really meant “No Filipinos Allowed.”

    I was in denial. Society can group me, classify me, and judge me without knowing me, solely based on my race. There are so many racists out there, be it hardcore racists who go out of their way to typecast and live prejudiced against certain people based on the color of their skin or, “innocent racists” who subconsciously place stereotypes on people they do not know for the sake of making strangers more comprehensible. Assumptions made based on a person’s skin color are racist judgments. Be them innocent or not, that's what they are. Microaggressions. Comments like "you're not as Asian as I thought you were."

    Race is one factor out of many that defines someone; it is not a person's defining factor.

     I do not live to please other people's standards or stereotypes. As much as the world wants me to fit into a mold or people want to make me easily digestible from a glance, I am so much more than my race.

   I do not adhere to the “Asian” stereotype or a “white” stereotype, because what does it mean to be “Asian” or be “white”? What is the basis to what makes a person “white” or “Asian” or “Hispanic” or “Black”?

   I do what I enjoy. Be it stereotypical or not, I do what I enjoy because I enjoy it. I enjoy badminton, Korean dramas, and manga. I enjoy Bollywood films, pho, and DIY projects. My favorite food is mangoes. My favorite show is Dance Moms. I do ballet and love art. My favorite place in the world is a concert hall or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wear leggings as pants and own over sixteen mini skirts. I’m afraid of big dogs and the dark. What race am I?

      I am proud of my Filipino culture. I am proud of my American culture.

     Nevertheless, I am so much more than my race.