My Japanese half, GI dad unknown.
Katherine Suszczewicz USA When you don’t know, your imagination will choose to make something up. Over and over again.
Chinese, Japanese parents; I speak neither
Patricia Lee, Cortez, CO When people find out that my father was Chinese and my mother was Japanese, they sometimes ask if I am trilingual....
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...
They only see the Asian half.
Katelyn Tsukada Northampton, MA My mother is of Irish and Italian heritage; my father of Japanese descent. Both of my parents were born in the...
Why can’t I simply be me?
Jessica Seargeant, Bellevue, WA. I am half Japanese and half Caucasian. I’ve been told I’m not Asian enough by Asians and not “white” enough by...
My Obaa is Japanese – I’m not.
Livia Messenger, Northhampton, MA. Smith College Before I told you my grandmother was from Japan, I wasn’t Asian to you. I’m white. I don’t speak...
My tastebuds tell me I’m Japanese
Ka’Olu, Los Osos, CA I’m a “third culture kid” raised in Southern California by expat Japanese parents. We were repatriated when I was a teenager,...
Passed for White; woke to shame.
Beryle Fobes, Torrance, CA Born at end of WWII to res-born Native American hetero male who later remarried a Japanese war bride. White mother remarried...
Thankful for parents who hated racism
Stephen Still, Birmingham, MI I’m from a small town in the state of Washington, didn’t see a black person until I was 10 years old,...
My mixed-race son looks All-American.
Emma Alvarez Gibson, San Pedro, CA. My husband’s heritage is Japanese/Portuguese/French. Mine is Mexican/Irish/Scottish. Neither of us fit in anywhere while growing up; both sides...
Why can’t I simply be me?
Jessica Seargeant, Bellevue, WA. I am half Japanese and half Caucasian. I’ve been told I’m not Asian enough by Asians and not “white” enough by...
I never thought you’d like this.
Asia Smith, Kansas City, MO This has been said to me many times throughout my life. I am a black girl who goes to a...
Regular Asian trying to find myself
Keisuke Okaguchi, Lake Forest, CA I am Japanese but born in United States. Both parents are from Japan and lived in a Asian life style...
My tastebuds tell me I’m Japanese
Ka’Olu, Los Osos, CA I’m a “third culture kid” raised in Southern California by expat Japanese parents. We were repatriated when I was a teenager,...
Yellow: Neither White Nor Black Enough
Yuri Yamamoto, Raleigh, NC. I am a Japanese immigrant. I sometimes feel lost in this society where race is all about black and white. I...
I hope he’ll look “American” enough.
Katrina Nye San Jose, CA I am full Asian and my husband is a quarter Japanese. Once our son was born I asked my husband...
White privilege has broken my heart.
April Anderson, Sonora, CA When I read From the Editor in Junes’ Nat Geo (I’m a bit behind) I suddenly had this sentence pop into...
Are you Chinese or something?
Brigitte Dees, Stillwater, OK. Growing up half Japanese, Native American, and white in Oklahoma was a challenge. I don’t look like anyone else and people...
