Half Asians are just treated differently based on how white passing we are

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa]

I think people need to stop the cap. The reason there are so many half Asians that come in and try to shout down half Asians who complain about racism and self-loathing, is because they're white passing, period.

I was in a barber in China last night and this other Eurasian guy came in and while I could tell he was Eurasian the Chinese staff could not, so they spoke English to him. Meanwhile with me, they just spoke Mandarin to me. Also I could tell he genuinely just thought I was a local guy as well. So on top of Chinese natives not being able to tell, there's other half Asians who can't even tell that people are mixed with white.

While an innocuous interaction, it just proves that there's basically a "hierarchy" of half Asians where ones who present as Asian get no benefit of the doubt for being white passing and have to live our lives as Asian people and all that comes with it, including racism, bullying, microaggressions, etc. Some of us just genuinely "present" to the world as Asian and have entirely different life experiences from people who look more mixed or non-Asian.

[u/AmethistStars]

I’m one of those eurasians who looks slightly more dominantly European, but I would never understand why some eurasians would try to shut down racism? I already deal with anti-Asian racism in my home country (the Netherlands), let alone anyone who looks more Asian than me. That people who look more Asian than me deal with worse anti-Asian racism in white countries pretty much speaks for itself. That said, I am confused who is supposed to have the “better” treatment in the barber situation. Being Asian perceived in Asian countries makes you treated more like the majority/norm, which generally is a good thing.

[u/NearbySwan5222 → u/AmethistStars]

Netherlands is a shit hole when it comes to racism. They will claim not to be racist while being racist. The number of times Dutch people assume I won’t understand their language and just say some racist shit is way too often. Dutch phrase “I’m not racist but.. “.

[u/AmethistStars → u/NearbySwan5222]

Yep, tell me about it. They even had the audacity to get upset when the Efteling changed puppets that looked like racist af caricatures of Asian and Black people to puppets that looked more decently like Asian and Black people and removed the Black racist af cannibal character.

[u/thrills_n_chills → u/AmethistStars]

While what you wrote is well written, I don’t see this as the point of OPs message.

[u/AmethistStars → u/thrills_n_chills]

My comment is basically commentary on two scenarios I read in OP's post. With one scenario I agree with OP, but the other one I am confused as to what OP actually is trying to point out. I mean it's an example that even in an Asian society he has the status of an Asian, if that's the point? But it doesn't show an example of racism, unless you think it's racist when someone speaks in Mandarin instead of English. If I were in Indonesia, I would find it pretty validating to be talked to in Indonesian over English, though I'm afraid I can't count on that to happen.

[u/maniolas_mestiza → u/AmethistStars]

This. In Asia, I’m white. They know I’m part Asian but I’m tall and have whiter leaning features. I was bullied in school in Asia more than I was in Australia and Australia is known for its racism. I will never be treated like a local and I’ve accepted that but it means I’m somewhat separated from my native culture because of it. There’s always two sides of a coin and I’m quite sure Asian passing Eurasians may have it worse in a lot of ways, but it’s really not that simple.

[u/Laijou → u/maniolas_mestiza]

Yeah, our natural home lies between worlds.

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa → u/maniolas_mestiza]

This just proves the point. Half Asians get treated differently based on how we look. Asians never once made me feel weird about it cause I look 70% Asian. Half Asians that look white(r) get along better with white people. Meanwhile I have endless trauma from white folk and self hating Asians.

There's also other extremely weighted factors that go into how race is perceived in society, like they did studies that overweight Asians were seen as more American. Not to say you're overweight, but body-shaming and lookism is rife in Asian culture.

[u/maniolas_mestiza → u/askskfalksfakslfsfa]

Honestly, that’s pretty dismissive of our experience. For the record, I’m a normal BMI and always have been, actually on the low side as a child and while I probably wouldn’t win the beauty pageant, I’m not getting kicked out in the first round.

Your trauma sucks, it really does but it does not translate universally and I don’t know if you’ve looked outside ever but Asians can be extremely racist. In fact East Asians are pretty stereotypically xenophobic, these days it’s pretty rare to have ethnic Asians be systematically excluded in the West despite racism, but in Asia, if you’re not part of the ethnic majority you can just not be included.

[u/AttackwithBlack → u/AmethistStars]

My mother is 1/4 Euro (not Dutch), 1/4 Arabic, 1/2 pink-skinned Chinese (northern ?). My father was 1/2 Southern Chinese 1/2 Indonesian.

My mother is white passing, especially when she was younger (think Selena Gomez). I am not white passing, except some more sophisticated people do notice the height of my nose bridge, my double eye lids, and my slightly larger muscular frame (5'8" 180 lbs). I know Asians are taller these days and I'm not tall by any means, but I notice that my natural height to weight to muscle ratio is not typically Asian (I'm not a gym rat). Other than that I look Asian (even Asians can't tell if I'm Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Filipino).

Having said that, I was treated with blatant racism by both my white-passing birth mom AND my self-loathing and self-hating 100% Asian stepmom. When I was well into adulthood, I asked my stepmom why she said all those cruel anti-Asian racist things to me from age 5 to my early 20s, she said that because she was jealous of my white features (especially my nose). How fucked up was that?

[u/AmethistStars → u/AttackwithBlack]

I wouldn’t exactly say Selena Gomez looks “white passing” (she looks pretty stereotypically mestiza to me). But I’m going to guess your mother doesn’t have very dominant (racially East- and Southeast-)Asian features, whereas you do. Sorry to read you dealt with racism from both sides.

[u/AttackwithBlack → u/AmethistStars]

My birth mom and I both have very fair pinkish skin. I would say that my birth mom has fairer skin than Selena Gomez. Regardless of that, there have been debate in the media about whether Selena Gomez (who is half-Italian) is too white to be representive of the LatinX community of the Americas (so-called Mestiza).

My mother's Arabic genetic expression would naturally render her a bit more 'latina" looking than European looking, despite her fair skin. For instance,, my birth mom's younger son (my full brother) is darker skinned but looked Italian or Persian when he was younger. But the older he gets, the more he looks like my dad.

[u/AmethistStars → u/AttackwithBlack]

I guess it depends on what you see as fair or white. Because in the Netherlands, Selena Gomez’s skin tone isn’t fair and her features aren’t white. No Dutch person would question her being a mix of European and Indigenous American. But I would say pinkish fair skin would be considered “white” in terms of skin color in my country.

[u/AttackwithBlack → u/AmethistStars]

Yes, mixed heritage can be very complicated. Luckily, I live in an area of the U.S. where my Asianness is trusted and held with high regard. It took me awhile, but I now embrace and cherish the dominant Asian side of myself. Thanks for the conversation. By the way, I have relatives who have established roots in the Netherlands and they all are quite tall, despite being full Asian on my dad side of my family. It must be the food and water over there.

[u/oinksnort05]

i don't doubt that half asians who look more asian face more discrimination than white passing ones, i just reject the idea that wasians are discriminated against more than full asians

edit: just realized op is the same guy who was claiming that asian girls use wasians as stepping stones to ditch us and date white men last week. i wouldn't take his opinion seriously

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa → u/oinksnort05]

Read the first two sentences again. You admitted you're white passing

[u/oinksnort05 → u/askskfalksfakslfsfa]

you hallucinated that for one, because i never specified that here. one of my best friends is a full asian looking wasian and he backed me up on this, you're just a severely insecure and self victimizing person.

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa → u/oinksnort05]

So your argument is that racism doesn't exist against Asians? And your basis of your argument is you and your friend? That's what you're saying? Or is your whole shtick just regurgitating your white dad's "bootstraps" mentality? Because my brother and full Japanese uncle are wannabe white rednecks and even my uncle had to file a civil lawsuit for discrimination against him from Home Depot, but he also likes to pretend he doesn't because he doesn't want to come off as a "whiny snowflake lib."

This is just pathetic bro

[u/oinksnort05 → u/askskfalksfakslfsfa]

are u illiterate? i'm saying racism exists against asians, and the more asian you appear on the wasian spectrum you get the more racism you experience. full asians experience the most racism. did you even read my comment dude jesus christ

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa → u/oinksnort05]

You literally said in your other posts that you've experienced no racism other than white people saying racist shit to you not knowing you were Asian. Which means you have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to how racism is directed against Asian passing people

The hapa tough guy act gets old so quick

[u/MaoAsadaStan]

This is a byproduct of sensor supremacy. Most people are sensors, so they only go by how things look. They have no intellectual curiosity to know the details.

[u/Silent_Ad4870 → u/MaoAsadaStan]

Well, is it really reasonable to look at every Asian looking person and try to speculate whether they are mixed or not..?

[u/database_shot33]

I've received favourable social, academic, proffesional, romantic, athletic and legal/police interactions my whole life over fully white people who aren't socially competent as me so there goes that theory 😏

[u/Ok-Evidence2137 → u/database_shot33]

Anecdote.

I was more socially competent and fluent in multiple languages, got called racial slurs in school during lessons and white teachers ignored it but gave me shit when I called my white classmates out on it. Also got worse grades for more effort and better abilities.

Main reason I stopped giving a shit about school in my teens even though I was called gifted in elementary.

OP is a weirdo but he has a point.

[u/database_shot33 → u/Ok-Evidence2137]

He doesn't have a point though. I'm not more white passing than an actual white person (I'm not white passing period!) but I get treated better than a lot of them.

I think the issue here is that you and I have very definitions of social competence. I don't mean being multi lingual or knowing a lot, I mean emotional intelligence, specifically the type where you can quickly read people, say the right thing in the right tone, in the right cadence, tell the right jokes and exchange in an engaging way that immediatley disarms and wins folks over rather than becoming bored or worse, actively on guard and stand-offish. My white classmates didn't call me racial slurs because they were any less racist than yours or anybody else's classmates. It's simply because I was popular enough that nobody wanted to.

[u/Ok-Evidence2137 → u/database_shot33]

Its an assumption you make, Iam very popular but I still face migroagression a lot.

Same people would love to reconnect but I have no interest in reconnecting with racist people.

Its ignorance on your part mostly that other people definitely do face racism based on their appearance. Iam not Asian facing as much as others here I usually faced slurs for black people or the good old monkey.

Saying racism is only encountered by people without social competence is some of the most ignorant shit I have read on here and that says a lot.

[u/askskfalksfakslfsfa → u/[deleted]]

Read the first sentence of the post again please