Woke up to this article today in USA
Some Asians’ college strategy: Don’t check ‘Asian’
Sounded like a good topic for this blog and is a choice my own boy will have to make someday so thought I’d do a post.
My personal opinion, being a completely white, blond/brownish, blue eyed, half Asian on the inside type of guy is this! Check whichever box gives you the best advantage!
That seems to be the overriding opinion with all the “ハーフ” (Half – Which means “Half Japanese in Japanese, but am using it to mean all “half people” here 🙂 ) and I don’t blame them for doing so. There is enough competition out there already so why make things tougher for themselves?
Some felt that not checking the box would be betraying their heritage and I understand their point, but only slightly. If you really think about it the boxes only give you “Asian” and “White” or “Caucasian.” so if a “half” checked Asian wouldn’t they be betraying their white heritage? LOL.
And if we really get into it Asia is referring to a geographic area on the planet. Yet, I still haven’t found a geographic area called “white” so aren’t these boxes all just a bit misleading?
For example, I know of many white Africans and most of the ones I know reside in South Africa. Wow, looks like I may have found a reason that they do not use geographic areas so much anymore, because what if the boxes were based on geographic locations things could get even more confusing!
If there were a box to put European, then due to empires and all the new “colonials” aka “immigrants” aka “citizens” it would be hard to determine what color they are since Europe is full of people from everywhere now. Further, most white Americans come from European descent and if we really want to get into history then we can see issues arising from those previous halfs that now make up a good portion of the many populations. Here are some examples:
1. Spaniards – They were overrun by the “Moors” from 711 to 1492. A good part of the population have Moorish blood.
2. Latin America – Overrun by the Spaniards from 1492 onward so what box would they check? They have Indian / Spanish and Moorish blood! AND if the boxes were from geographic areas putting Indian would mean coming from India since that white dude Christopher Columbus ended up finding the wrong continent. But oh wait, they’ve fixed that now. Isn’t the box, “Native American?” And wait, who was on the American continent before the “Natives” crossed the land bridge that used to connect the American continent with Asia? So aren’t the current Native Americans really Asians?
I once asked a “Ethnicity adviser” at a large university a question concerning “halfs” and what box they should check. She advised that you should check the box that you most strongly associate with, “It is how you feel on the inside!”
Well, if that were the case, I often feel Japanese when I am in Japan. But should I go to Cafe Latino while in Tokyo then I most certainly feel Latino as I drink my Aguardiente and try my best to salsa. Now that I think about it, Latino is a bit too broad. I think I would consider myself Argentinian.
But wait! Didn’t a lot of Nazis’ escape to Argentina? Pursuit of Nazi collaborators
If I checked the college application box that said “Latino” and more specifically Argentinian would they possibly think I could be a Nazi? I bet that would get me disqualified very quickly.
Personally, I’d like to see a box that says “Global Citizen.” If, as the above adviser says, I should check the box based on how I feel then I feel like an inhabitant of this planet, one who can assimilate into many cultures and would like to become part of as many groups as possible.
Maybe that sounds a little corny. Further, I am now going to exercise my Spanish (from Spain) feelings, go have a coffee and take a siesta.
