Generality:“Yellow”. 147
Anonymous | nationality: Japanese/American | ethnicity:Japanese
“Yellow”.
Especially since we are doing an interview relatedto my Asian heritage,
I definitely associate the color of my skin with yellowin this context. In
all honesty, I don’t hear “yellow” in regards to myskin that often in my
daily life. Overall, I feel pretty neutral to thatterm, and I regard it as
sort of similar to how Caucasian people are associatedwith “white” and
people with African roots associate with “black”.I don’t think I’ve been
called yellow by anyone other than myself or my otherAsian friends;
definitely not in an ill-intentioned way.
“Asian”.
I think anyone with Asian descent can call themselvesAsian, or 1/2,
1/4, etc. I guess where the confusion sometimes comesin is what is
defined as an Asian country. It feels weird to gatekeepbeing Asian in a
way, but I think what brings many east and south Asianstogether is the
similarity in culture and experiences. Overall, however,I think anyone
who wants to call themselves Asian can (as long asthey have some
Asian descent of some sort).
Ethnicity|part1.
I think Japanese culture/fashion/media is sort ofromanticized and
admired these days, especially on the internet (forexample “Harajuku
aesthetic” fashion). In that sense, I feel proud ofmy ethnicity. It’s
encouraging to know that there are many people whoappreciate our
culture and have a positive view on it. Growing upin a generally
accepting and diverse community, I always felt uniquenext to my
peers, since I was usually one of only ~2 Japanesekids in the grade. On
the same note, however, I often felt lonely when Ipassed by groups of
peers in the hallway who could chat to each otherin their native
language, while I had no one to speak it with.
One moment was when my family was invited to a newyear’s
celebration for a music performance club I was a memberof in my
freshman year. Everyone else in the club spoke mandarinor Cantonese,
which ended in an awkward and isolating situationespecially for my
parents, who couldn’t communicate with others exceptwith broken
English.
Overall, however, I love my ethnicity. I return tomy father’s hometown
in rural Japan every year (except this year) to visitthe rest of my family,
and I associate my nationality with love and fantasticmemories of
when I visit.
Ethnicity|part2.
I think that my feelings, especially pride, are acombination of both— a
lot of people these days want to go to Japan or likeJapanese media
(anime, etc.). I’m really thankful to have experiencedalmost completely
positive reactions when I tell others “what kind ofAsian I am”. Hearing
mchaos
(mchaos)
#1