In my blood, not my face

Lauren
Via “Visualizing Change at “PROOF” – The National Geographic Blog about Photography and Culture

To me it’s not about race, it’s about culture. I am 1/4 Japanese, and don’t look the least bit Asian (though my brother does). I grew up in America, but with my mom growing up in Japan, she passed down the culture. I was raised practicing Japanese traditions, eating the foods, watching the movies, learning the language. I feel more Japanese than American in some ways. I used to wish I looked at least a tiny bit Asian so I could have some visual hint of the race I so identified with. I’m also a mixture of other backgrounds including Irish, German and English. My 6 words about race? “In my blood, not my face.” It’s about how we identify ourselves inside, not how we look that identifies us.