D, in extension to your piece on IR, how would this apply to 'Hapas' themselves?

[Anansasem]

http://www.thefighting44s.com/archives/2007/07/18/inter-racial-dating-by-asian-americans/ and here
http://www.thefighting44s.com/archives/2007/08/08/if-youre-not-with-us-youre-with-the-terrorists/ Doesn't ethnocentrism, of any variation, disallow multiracial people and bar their acceptance to the same extent?

With the divisiveness in the perceptions of 'races' as inexorably independent and exclusive entities, can multiracial people be fully accepted into both, let alone one group while rejecting the other? With the pervading presence of Asian and White ethnocentrism, how can one fully integrate all heritages while maintaining a psyche that is still tolerable to racial institutions and standards?

I can agree with the stance you took in your statements, that this would be in only one context. Also, maybe it would be somewhat contentious to claim to be an Asian American activist while maintaining and identifying with other racial groups. What I'm getting at, is if you can be fully Asian while being fully White, Black, Latino, etc. Or, is the reality that you must take a back seat as a 'partial' member of the group unless you exclude and reject all other racial categories except the group in which you wish to belong? In this case, is there a paradox between individual and social perceptions?

I cannot get past this 'crossroad.'

[Dialectic]

Thanks for this post, Anansasem.

This is a difficult topic, and you might want to see if Xian's got time to lay out some thoughts on this as well. Keep in mind that it's late and I'm writing off the top of my head.

Doesn't ethnocentrism, of any variation, disallow multiracial people and bar their acceptance to the same extent?

It does present difficulties, because multiracial people have a lower probability of fitting into ethnocentric norms.

It's very difficult to talk about "hapas" or multiracial folks as a whole, because unlike people of "purer" or more easily defined race types, their social position is very, very dependent on their individual characteristics: if you look really mixed, you'll be treated differently and have a different outlook than if you look strongly like one particular phenotype. Similarly, behavior will be a very strong determining factor. I can act really "white" and still pretty much be considered Asian and consider myself Asian (though I'll be a "banana"), but if a hapa who doesn't definitively fall into one or another phenotypical category strong acts a certain way, his/her racial identity will have a bit more flexibility.

With the divisiveness in the perceptions of 'races' as inexorably independent and exclusive entities, can multiracial people be fully accepted into both, let alone one group while rejecting the other? With the pervading presence of Asian and White ethnocentrism, how can one fully integrate all heritages while maintaining a psyche that is still tolerable to racial institutions and standards?

Again, it really depends on your individual circumstances. Some can be accepted into one or both, and others can't. A lot of it does depend on how you look. I had a Jamaican-Canadian buddy who had a Chinese last name because he had a Chinese grandpa. He was also more light-skinned than average and had narrower eyes too. Still, though, he looked pretty much Black, and he was raised in Toronto so he had "Black" behavioral tendencies in speech and movement. There was no question that he was Black and not really Chinese, though he got along with everyone and never really seriously considered trying to fit in with the Chinese as a fellow Chinese.

As for how you can feel comfortable and get along with everyone, and hopefully have most folks feel comfortable and get along with you, that's a very long discussion for another day. That gets into all sorts of things outside of race: it involves social, emotional, and cognitive maturity. How good are you socially in general? Do you find that you can relate to people, and that people can relate to you easily? How quickly do you form bonds with people, and are they lasting or significant? Do you have a well-developed emotional sensitivity? And of course, how do you look/ All these factors are significant.

I can agree with the stance you took in your statements, that this would be in only one context. Also, maybe it would be somewhat contentious to claim to be an Asian American activist while maintaining and identifying with other racial groups. What I'm getting at, is if you can be fully Asian while being fully White, Black, Latino, etc. Or, is the reality that you must take a back seat as a 'partial' member of the group unless you exclude and reject all other racial categories except the group in which you wish to belong? In this case, is there a paradox between individual and social perceptions?

I cannot get past this 'crossroad.'

You might have to reject all others if you want full acceptance into one. Again, it depends on your individual circumstances, as well as the particular groups in that particular place at that particular time. As Jadedragon said in response to an Feature, there are people in the GLBT community who distrust bi-sexuals, because they think bis will act straight with straights and queer with queers, attempting a best of both worlds sort of thing without suffering any of the drawbacks or struggles, and ultimately, without showing loyalty. Some people think the same thing of some hapas, or even some "full"-blooded people. Remember that different people and groups have different conceptions of race, and if, for example, "Chinese" is to be meaningful, then it must exclude as well as include. How much exclusion and inclusion there is is up to the individual or group to decide, and that depends on internal and external factors. Hapas are in the unfortunate position that they may be excluded from all groups (though I doubt this happens that much in practice, as many will tend toward one or another and be generally accepted) such that race advocacy may not be the best way to direct their energies, but I remind everyone that they can always go for, say, human rights or environmental advocacy without issue.

I hope I've made some sense here, I'm very tired and it's very late!