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I watched an interview of a Chinese Mauritian living in an African island nation called Mauritius.  He said the diversity experience in Mauritius is like a fruit salad, with each ingredient having its own unique and wonderful flavor enhancing the overall product.  The U.S. melting pot theory isn’t working so well because it’s like taking that fruit salad and making a puree, the overall product dominated by the strongest flavor.  In the U.S., it’s difficult to live as all I am instead of living focused on the ‘dominant flavor.’  I understand completely what I need to do or how I need to behave to contribute positively to the community I live in.  At the same time, I speak both Japanese and English, I can dress myself in my own kimono, I cook many different Japanese foods, I read Japanese news and I communicate regularly with other half Japanese people, some in other countries, to stay in touch with issues I think are unique only to us.  This is embracing all that I am, not separating myself from others.  I believe this is much healthier than disappearing into the ‘dominant flavor’ by ignoring my racial background.

posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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My family and I immigrated to the U.S. from Japan in 1971.  I'm half Japanese, my mom was Japanese and my dad was white from Minnisota.  We settled in Klamath Falls.  In the 70's, a TV movie about a young Japanese American girl interned in Tule Lake was filmed on location and word got out that the studio was looking for Oriental looking people for extras.  All the Japanese wives in Klamath Falls went to audition along with all the half Japanese kids.  My brother and I didn't get parts because we looked too white (that always seemd to the issue with us, too white or not white enough).  Watching the scenes and later the movie on TV was an awakening experience for me.  This was the first time I realized that discrimination can happen against 'pure' non-mixed people too.  And to see this happen against a race that was so bigotted against my brother and me was very strange.  Ever since then, I've become extremely sensitive to racial issues and use my white privilege to advocate as effectively as I can toward minimizing racial and cultural bigotry.

By the way, my Japanese family, Otani, are from Hiroshima and are either survivors or witnesses to the atomic bomb explosion.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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