|
|
ARTICLES:
Eurasian Experience
What
Issues? By James J. Shea April 2003 As a child of mixed descent, this distinction has never proved much of a problem for me. Ridiculous as this may sound, this is entirely the truth. It might be a little hard to swallow but I am constantly surprised at articles I read wherein the authors grapple with issues of identity, not knowing with which ethnic heritage to identify or facing odds based on their ethnicity. I remember watching "The Real World: New Orleans" on MTV and how annoyed and surprised I was every time Melissa, a biracial cast member, complained and struggled with her identity. "What is she talking about?" I often wondered. Call me naïve but I can honestly say that I do not possess the same understanding as the people who bring up these issues. Certainly I am not discounting their feelings. I would rather think of myself presenting an alternative side. My mother is Indonesian. It is through her that I have my dark looks: my tan skin, my dark features. My father is Irish-Italian. I have his build. My younger sister, Patricia, has my mother's dark looks minus the tan skin: she inherited my father's skin tone. While out and about, we have both been confused for every possible race and racial combination: Filipino, Persian, Hispanic, a black-and-white mix. People are usually surprised, and then interested, once we divulge our ethnic make-up. Never have I been faced with a time where my confession of my Irish-Indonesian roots has led to disdain, insult, or injury. Some people have asked with which side do my sister and I associate ourselves more to which we respond, instinctively, "Both sides." This answer seems to be enough for them. I have not had to ponder and "dig deep within myself" to come up with a truthful recounting of what I really feel. My answer is the truth. I do identify with both sides of my racial make-up. But why is that? Why is it that I have not been faced with the issue of choice, the issue of selecting one side over another? Why have I never had a struggle with this? I believe there are several reasons. The main reason to which I attribute my stability and security with my racial identity is the parenting both my mother and father imbued on my sister and I. Not one race superceded the other in our biracial household. My mother spoke Bahasa to my sister, my father, and I just as much as she and my father addressed us in English. Cooking was always as much a mix as we were: one night linguini a la carbonara, the next ayam goreng and nasi. I loved my Ooma, my grandmother on my mother's side, as much as I loved my Nonno and Nonna, my grandparents on my father's side, and my parents made sure we spent ample time with both sides. Annual family trips took us to Jakarta and Rome. At international festivals our schools celebrated, my sister and I were the ones dressed in traditional Indonesian attire saying, "Erin go bragh." There was such a balance in the household that my sister and I were never faced with choosing one side of the family over another. My sister and I were brought up internationally. This is another factor that reinforced our strong cultural identity. As students in international schools overseas, my sister and I grew up in environments filled with open minds and a feeling of general acceptance. My classmates were always a diverse group: my best friends Kyu Jung and Daniel sitting next to me while our teacher lectured us in Spanish. And in Jakarta, Indonesia, specifically, a lot more of our family friends were composed of the same ethnic make-up as my family. As "Joy Luck Club"-ish as it sounds, the group of family friends in Jakarta consisted of the Indonesian mothers, best friends and maternal "rivals", and the Caucasian fathers (both European and American) along with their mixed progeny. Growing up and playing with one another, and still keeping in touch after all these years, we accepted our biracial identities as something normal, standard. The environment in which we thrived, both international and cosmopolitan, only reinforced that standard for us. And what of moving back to the United States, itself a "melting pot" and always a scene where racial and ethnic drama plays out on center stage? Fortunately, our solidified notion of a multi-ethnic world as the norm got stronger after moving here. My group of friends in high school (still some of the closest friends I keep near to me today) and my friends from college were just as diverse as my classmates abroad. While I may have been the only Southeast Asian-Caucasian mix among them, I was certainly not alone in my embracing of our diversity and acceptance of one another's heritage. My group of high school friends jokingly refers to itself as a walking "United Colors of Benetton" ad because we are all so diverse. Two of my closest friends at Johns Hopkins were mixed themselves: one Japanese-Italian, the other Turkish-Egyptian-French-Sudanese. If anything, my resolve over my biracial identity has luckily been strengthened by the people I have met and the experiences I have gone through since moving to the United States. Discovering for myself the EurasianNation community is just another brick I can add to the already-strong foundation of my persona. My sister introduced me to the site and it is through the site that I received a fuller glimpse of both the pros and cons Eurasians are faced with. The articles I read detailing anger, non-acceptance, confusion and sadness surprised me. And while these problems certainly are real, not having faced them personally made them even more of a shock to me. Yet here was another community to become a part of where the Eurasian background was embraced and proudly displayed, where others like myself could come together and discuss problems or, as in my case, discuss the fortunate experience of being Eurasian. Here is another environment upon which to thrive, to grow, and to apply to my identity. The name itself is something to make me happy about. Now, when asked what my ethnic heritage is, I answer, "Eurasian", an answer that fits perfectly with my follow-up response of identifying with both cultures within my family. I understand that my experience does not mirror that of a lot of people of mixed descent. I have been fortunate so far. I have built a solid foundation upon which I proudly carry my Irish-Indonesian identity. My sister is the same way. Yet neither of us discounts the struggles that people have gone or are going through with their multiracial heritage. I understand that I have been lucky thus far but that that luck can change in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, if that ever happens, I will have the strong foundation I have built to rely on if I am ever faced with questions and uncertainties. And I will certainly have my family and friends. About
the Author |
Articles
|
|