editor's note
While spending my warm winter break in sunny Little Tokyo of Los Angeles, I overheard a Japanese American elderly man exclaim how “half-Japanese kids are diluting Japanese American culture and its community!” I was appalled. I know that this is not the stance of the majority of Asian Americans who are so-called “full Asian.” However, I do know of people within the Asian American community who think of me and other Hapas (a debatable term itself) as somehow unable to retain or even understand what is Asian American culture. Is it because “half-Asians” can only understand “half” the plight of the Asian American struggle? Is it our not-quite-Asian nor not-quite-the-other looks that prevent us from being a fully active participant in the Asian American community? Did one of our non-Asian parents in one way or another dilute our ability to understand what are rightfully also our culture and our struggle?
The notion of someone who is “half” versus someone who is whole is highly disturbing. The 100% Asian is viewed by some people as the ideal in order to sustain an ethnic community – marrying outside of one’s ethnic group only weakens the ties of an already vulnerable community. While some may hold this to be true, who determines the definition of who is half and who is whole? What does it mean to be 100% Asian? Is it the food? Is it the ability to speak in your parent’s native tongue? Having hot water constantly boiling in the house? What is it really? The underlying notion is if you’re not “whole” you’re not really part of the community. It is these people that forget that identity and culture are not concrete solid entities; rather, it incorporates the multitude of experiences we face as individuals. Identity and culture are in constant flux. In the end, it’s not our genetic makeup or a set cultural identity that defines the strength and sustainability of a community - it’s the ability to perceive beyond whatever “full” means and to understand that we are all a part of the same struggle.
naomi oren
art director