The summer after my freshman year, I studied Japanese at a university in Tokyo and got to know my relatives better. My internalized white supremacy was degrading an immutable part of who I am. Asian male representation in the media has come a long way from when I was a kid.
Not really — at least it seems that way anecdotally from the experiences of Asian men in the Seattle area who I talked to. Some Asian American men even think the K-pop phenomenon, which is often heralded as a boon for Asian male representation, is causing a fetishization of certain types of Asian men that complicates their love lives. And though the rise in hate crimes against Asians was painful to see, it helped create a widespread acknowledgment of the discrimination Asians, including Asian men, still face in America.
I think this acknowledgment is a good first step toward fighting this racism. If people acknowledge that discrimination against Asian men exists in the dating pool, they might question the reasons for their own sexual preferences and eventually overcome the racism that warps their choices in romantic partners.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. Show caption. By Jade Yamazaki Stewart. Commentary I was born in a small port town in Japan and moved to Eugene, Oregon, when I was 5 years old, where I lived until I graduated college.
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Jade Yamazaki Stewart: jstewart seattletimes. You can reach him at jstewart seattletimes. Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. The older Reed got, the more he realized the implications of presenting as a Black man in the United States.
This year has made him more aware of how people see him. Though he has been immersed in Indo-Carribean culture since childhood, his Indian heritage tends to be lost on strangers.
I think a lot of mixed people kind of go through that same thing with feeling like they have to identify with one race instead of all of the races that make up who they are. When the Black Lives Matter movement grew this summer, Hayes said her family encouraged her to engage with both Black and Filipino history. When researching the Philippines with her mom, Hayes learned for the first time about the idealization of white features and pale skin that is prevalent across Asia.
As an actress, she said this political moment has made her realize the internalized racism that exists in her industry. For Mariko Fujimoto Rooks, being good at school was sometimes a double-edged sword. Her academic performance in high school placed her in higher-level classes and eventually got her into Yale, but, often, she was the only Black person in the room. Rooks, who is Yonsei, or fourth-generation Japanese American, found that students and faculty were quick to pick and choose which aspect of her identity to categorize her by.
And the Black students who were unapologetic about their identities were demonized, too. As a college senior, Rooks now has more access to both Black and Asian communities, but said that operating in Asian spaces has also made her more aware of anti-Blackness.
One of the most distinct memories Shanell Dozier has of high school is when a white boy approached her in the cafeteria and accused her of lying about her identity. The incident compounded the feeling of isolation she experienced as a child trying to navigate her Black and Indo-Fijian identity.
Her mom, a Fijian of Indian descent, raised her around her South Asian family and tried to educate her about their collective history. And I don't speak Hindi as well as they do. Skin and hair shaped how Dozier saw herself growing up. She was often teased for the texture of her hair, being told it was "fake" when she wore it straight. The colorism prevalent in South Asian culture and media made her question if she fit in with her lighter-skinned peers.
She said she grew up seeing skin bleaching agents on TV, "and it would actually make me want to do that because I felt like I was too dark or that my color wasn't good enough. She's thankful she never ended up trying those products, but that otherizing influence still follows her.
Growing up, Alani Fuji says that her experience as a multiracial child set her apart from her peers. Her mother passed away when she was young, and she and her twin sister were raised by their father, who immigrated from Japan. In school, she mostly hung out with other Asian American students, partly because of their similar upbringing by Asian parents, but also because she was often racialized as just Asian.
People have tried and failed to categorize Charles Nathan since she was a kid. My closest friend, who is half-Filipino and half-Sri Lankan, used to pray to God every night to make her look more white — she prayed for fairer skin and a narrower nose.
Three years from now, I plan to try having children with my part-Italian partner. I hope that my future part-Chinese, part-Italian children do not feel any unnecessary pressure to be beautiful or, for that matter, good at maths. In the past, I have felt uncomfortable when well-meaning friends see pictures of my partner and me and proceed to coo over how cute they expect our future children to be.
It is odd to have people objectifying our unborn children. Relive moments that shaped history with the Making History Collection on SBS and SBS On Demand Retrace the steps that have helped shape humankind with these programs and documentaries that uncover the past in a new light. Here's everything you missed from the 'Happy Endings' reunion special Penny, Max, Jane, Brad, Alex and Dave are all finally back for a reunion episode of 'Happy Endings' and it's all for a good cause.
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