From the Meltingpot Vault: Passing For White, Asian Style

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

For those of you who are new to the Meltingpot, you should know that this is like the third incarnation of this blog. I’ve always covered identity politics and parenting, I just did it over on blogger. I never took the original Meltingpot blog down, so you can always go back and read through the archives, just for kicks. Occasionally, somebody new does stumble upon an old post and leaves a comment, which makes me think it’s worth re-sharing.

Here’s the comment I just received on my post about Asians “passing for White” when applying for college given the trend of elite colleges discriminating against Asians in their admissions policies:

“I’m a half white half asian American. My asian mom was adopted by white people. My dad is white. I don’t identify with my asian background anymore than I identify with my obscure Swedish roots. My cousins are also half asian from my aunt who grew up in Japan. They consider themselves Asian because they identify with it. I’ve always checked white until I learned I didn’t need to check it at all. I don’t think it’s just a matter of passing as white or not and concealing heritage. I think it’s a matter of self identity. The greater tragedy is those who get surgery to fit one ideal beauty.”
1:33 AM

Thank you, Anonymous for sharing. It’s a great point and one anyone should consider in this whole identity game. To read the original post Anon was responding to, click here. And feel free to add your thoughts here about what you think about this trend of Asian kids feeling the need to hide their ethnic identity to get into college.

Peace!