exploringmultiracialasians

[exploringmultiracialasians]

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Exploring Gabriel’s Identity

In this interview with Gabriel, we’re better able to understand how some multiracial Asian Americans identity-forming experiences can differ based on an individual's surroundings. Gabriel was raised in a household where there was a strong racial identity that he could ascribe to.  In an article called “Half and Half’: Racial Identity Development of Multiracial Asian American Children Portrayed in Children’s Picturebooks.” it stated “Developing one’s racial identity is one of the most important tasks in the early years of one’s life. Racial identity refers to the attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs that an individual has about his or her racial group in relation to the majority racial group (Arroyo & Zigler, 1991). Developing racial identity can be complex and challenging, especially for multiracial individuals (Oikawa & Yoshida, 2007; Schlabach, 2013). Quite a few MAAs have described their experiences of “social ostracism,” alienation, and marginalization; these individuals generally feel “culturally [ly] homeless” because they do not feel as though they belong to a community.” Though representation was absent outside of the familial group He still was able to relate to and affirm his identity with immediate and extended family. In addition to this much direct outside societal pressure was alleviated due to his mother's and father's ability to provide needed nuance in matters of their ethnic, racial, cultural, and even national background. An article titled “Are Racial Identities of Multiracials Stable? Changing Self-Identification among Single and Multiple Race Individuals.” stated “The stability and volatility of racial self-identification are firmly rooted in differences in two factors: socioeconomic status and physical appearance. Increases in maternal education are associated with elevated odds of reporting the same race over time.’ Many other multiracials that didn’t have the same amount of solidarity in familial and close communities tend to experience racial imposter syndrome more frequently and at times more deeply. Later in life, Gabriel experienced doubts about his identity. In an article called “Storytelling for Asian–White Multiracial American College Students’ Racial Identity.” it stated “The identity invalidation status refers to a period of feeling “othered” from one’s own racial groups by being made to feel like you do not belong or are not valid. Two subtypes of identity invalidation were identified: self-invalidation and other-invalidation.” When looking to deepen their understanding of their self-identification and searching for similar individuals outside the primary communal group. He encountered friction when personally justifying his Chinese heritage due to his lack of participation in the Chinese Culture/experience at large. Despite this, what pieces of Asian culture he had participated in and some general Asian values he had knowingly and unknowingly he was able to solidify relations with similar individuals. This aforementioned search for external racial identity validation from larger groups/communities can be more difficult for multiracials who are excluded by 2 or more of their ancestral communities, and more so if all or most of the racial groups that are trying to be ‘bought into’ are less inclusive. So as we can see Gabriel's upbringing allowed him to better integrate with other groups and provided much more autonomy in matters of racial identification later in life.

Who Am I Inside? Gabriel’s Connection to Media

In Mulan, the leading lady whose namesake is the film title, is torn between who she is inside and her duty to conform to what’s expected of her. All she wants is to make her family proud. In Gabriel’s case, it’s a matter of not knowing which side, his Chinese or Peruvian side, he relates to more and how hard it can be to make either side proud by staying culturally connected.

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Exploring Jacob's Identity

Throughout the interview, Jacob was asked a series of questions that allowed us to understand his character. We gained knowledge and understanding from his background, his experience with race perception, his reconnection with his Japanese heritage, and his frustration about others not understanding his mixed identity. An article called “Examining Multiracial Pride, Identity-Based Challenges, and Discrimination: An Exploratory Investigation Among Biracial Emerging Adults” states “Identity-based challenges may be defined as the internal pressures and difficulties conforming to societies conception of race and difficulties in forming a strong racial identity (Salahuddin & O’Brien, 2011). As Multiracial emerging adults contend with these societal limitations to their identity and authentic selves, these struggles can potentially place them at risk for negative psychological outcomes (Franco & O’Brien, 2018).” This gives us connections to the challenges Jacob had faced during his education career;  as he tried to find a way to connect with his Japanese heritage by studying abroad and finding ways to take classes that could help him develop character within his identity. With that, being able to connect Jacob’s experience with Campbell and Eggerling, their article is called “What about the children?” The psychological and social well-being of multiracial adolescence.” This article states “we investigated the ways in which these adolescents compare to their monoracial counterparts on five outcomes: depression, seriously considering suicide, feeling socially accepted, feeling close to others at school, and participating in extracurricular activities. We found that multiracial adolescents as a group experience some negative outcomes compared to white adolescents…: IT discusses the well-being of multiracial adolescents as they build an understanding of their racial identities and this touches base on how they felt during this time. As Jacob expressed he had gone through an identity crisis and a feeling of frustration of how others were perceiving him. As he went through an identity crisis he felt as if he had to prove to others that he was part Japanese also but yet questioned himself. Later yet, frustration occurred due to other individuals not understand that he was of mixed descent. In connection to another article called “Mixed” Results: Multiracial Research and Identity Explorations Current Directions in Psychological Science,” it stated “Roccas and Brewer (2002) proposed four main strategies for managing multiple social identities, and there is some theoretical evidence that multiracials may use similar strategies, such as merging their racial identities while navigating between them..”  We were able to connect to his personal experiences, understanding that he truly belonged due to how others perceived him. He was able to overcome this and connect to his heritage through his educational career and understanding himself more.

To Be Invincible: Jacob’s Connection to Media

Mark, the show's protagonist (A.K.A. Invincible), is the son of a normal Asian human mother and a White appearing superhero alien father. Throughout the story, Mark is faced with having to justify his racial identity to others as well as himself. He’s worried about how his ancestry influences who he is and how others treat him. Mark isn’t fully accepted into the general human population, nor to the community of alien ancestry, and has to hide his true personal identity in order to be treated normal in either group. Although not as dramatic, Jacob’s lived experience mirrors that of Invincible, as he has struggled to be someone who is both Japanese and White, but isn’t fully accepted into either community due to the fact that he is Wasian.

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Exploring Caleb’s Identity

From what Caleb has mentioned in this interview, he doesn’t seem to have much of a close connection to his Japanese identity outside of food and festivals. He describes himself as very Americanized, and that his Japanese-ness is something that’s just there—nothing more, nothing less. His relationship with his mixed Japanese-white identity is juxtaposed with Jordan’s relationship with his Japanese-white background, which was explored through an interview from “From Hapa to Hafu: Mixed Japanese American Identities in Japan.” While they both grew up in America eating cultural Japanese food and experiencing certain cultural customs, “Jordan strongly identified with the US-based, mixed-heritage term hapa” (Yamashiro 73) while Caleb has a neutral outlook on his mixed-race background. Simply, Caleb’s neutrality towards his mixed-race identity is juxtaposed with Jordan’s strong identification with the term hapa. It is important to note how they were both culturalized, as a study titled “A Qualitative Examination of Familial Racial-Ethnic Socialization Experiences Among Multiracial American Emerging Adult,” has found that “food was the most prominent connection Multiracial youth had to their culture” (Atkin, et al.). Despite its surface-level connectedness, food was a prominent aspect that kept Caleb in touch with his Japanese heritage.

To Have No Face: Caleb’s Connection to Media

No-Face, from Spirited Away, is a spirit that lacks a sense of self and takes on the characteristics of those around him. This mirrors how Caleb felt growing up moving around to different communities; he didn’t take on an identity of his own and would try to fit in with the majority. His focus with his identity was seeking outward connections rather than an internal, personal cultural connection. This would often entail Caleb rejecting the identity offered to him through blood quantum, instead favoring to try and identify with the majority around him depending on the community he found himself in.