Week 5 - Playing Cards

By: Estefanie Herrera, Myura Trawick, Alexis Quach

Artist Statement:

For our card project we decided to use the classic card game images and give them a twist to recreate the conflict between a person that is mixed race and the passing that is chosen by a mixed race individual that favors one of their parents primarily those with Eurocentric features. We found inspiration in the film “Imitation of Life” (1959) directed by Douglas Sirk. The character Sarah Jane is one of the main female characters in the film, she is the daughter of an African American woman and fathered by a White man. Sarah Janes’ self loathing at being African American and having an obviously black mother also leads her into an imitation of life as she estranges herself from Annie in order to pass as white and therefore not have to suffer the indignities of discrimination.

People of mixed race that pass as white use their skin color to benefit being white; these individuals are trying to find a way through the binary racial divisions of society. This can probably be traced to the early 18^thcentury where most free people were classified by their appearance. If they looked white, then they had privileges and were easily accepted over other mixed race individuals that favored the skin color or physical features of the non-white parent.

Our card has a Queen of heart that is colored. She represents Sarah Janes’ mother, Annie, who is black and the King underneath her is white faced. The King is under her to signify that he is not a primary part of Sarah Jane’s life so what we know about him is through the Queen (Annie). There is a line around the Queen to signify the social constraints Annie has to deal with and how her daughter’s rejection takes a physical and mental toll on her bounding Annie to deal with racism through her daughter’s actions. The back side of our card is the joker; Sarah Jane is represented there with a black and white image signifying her two parents. The look on her face is that of seriousness not so much a jester because she finally reconciled with her identity but it was only after her mother’s death. What is the point of passing when there is so high an emotional toll? Insistence on race identity, race consciousness, race pride, and race beauty has made antiquated the game of hide-and-seek, especially people of color and whites.

Week 5: Playing Cards "Two Sisters" - Andrea, Nicholas, and Llesenia

By Andrea, Nicholas, and Llesenia

We drew our inspiration for this art piece from Dr. Valverde and the perception of being Amerasian even though she’s Eurasian. We wanted to further exemplify the choice between following your heart and proudly identifying as one race or going with what other people tell you that you are. More importantly, we wanted to address the question of whether or not mixed race people have authority to speak on matters of they strongly identify with. We decided to use the sisters after a dialogue our group had about one of our members experience being mixed race. We settled on the sisters because we thought it was an experience not discussed enough. Are the two sisters on the card fakes for omitting one identity, for trying to pass as one race? We also chose to use the two sisters experience to further exemplify the complexity of being mixed race. Despite both these sisters growing up in the same area, with the same parents, and close in age, they have such different experiences from one another. As artists we want to highlight the question of how authentic are mixed race people. By choosing one race, is one’s identity diminished? Are you a traitor to one race by only acknowledging one race to yourself or others? The card is a Joker with a literal fork in the middle of the road; it is symbolic of how silly it is to choose to be half of a person, but it is something imposed on them. 

New Eugenics Movements Against Mixed Species: Deadpool (Death of Genetic Pools)

By: Jingyi Dong, Vy Nguyen, Miggy Cruz, and Leslie Do

Lara Nelson’s novel Passing and Thomas Teo’s article “The Historical Problematization of ‘Mixed Race’” were the jumping points and inspiration for the reimagination of the fictional character Deadpool. Our card also critiques his attempts to “pass” as a genetically engineered superhuman and superhero. For instance, Teo examines the time when Adolf Hitler used the “problematization of hybridity” and mixed race populations. Hitler was strongly influenced by the Eugenics Movement. According to Edwin Black, Eugenics originated in the 1800s with Sir Francis Galton, and eventually transferred to the United States where the Eugenics Movement began. Later, Black notes that the “Rockefeller Foundation helped found the German eugenics program. Passing is a cautionary tale that discourages mixed race individuals from attempting to pass as white; especially if a mixed race person tries to pass as white he or she will suffer negative consequences such as tragedies.

Our playing card warns people to not pass as a superhuman by genetically merging with non-humans or else you will depopulate and sterilize your community in the new Rockefeller Eugenics Movement. We used Darrell Hamamoto’s post-humanist theory and New World Order theory to evolve the main ideas of Teo’s article and Larson’s novel, Passing. Dr. Hamamoto alerts us that a new eugenics movement is evident, especially since the Rockefeller foundation has a history of facilitating eugenics movements. If globalists and institutes for genetic studies work together to genetically merge humans and nonhumans, then these experiments and these new generations of mixed species can create sterile offspring. This trend will decreases the population of the masses so that globalists can control the masses better.

Week 5: Playing Cards - Nuremberg Laws

By: Angela Nguyen, Christine Lee, and Kurt Romero

Artist Statement:

In reading the book, “Passing” by Nella Larsen, we artists were fascinated by the idea that regardless of one’s heritage, looking a certain way is a privilege. Although the main character, Clare Kendry was biracial and was part Black, she was able to pass into the White society and marry a White man due to her Blond appearance. However, appearances are only privileges for a selected population of the mixed-race community. Through the theme of being able to ‘pass’ due the color of one’s skin, we realized that sometimes, skin pigmentation cannot be used to differentiate one race from another race. For example, in Europe, it is difficult to distinguish one European from another by just looking at their skin. Therefore, during times of conflict regarding race such as the Holocaust, ancestry was used to categorize the different ethnic groups. During the Holocaust, mixed-race Jews, known as Mischlinge, were privileged if they were no more than 50% Jewish. While the Germans created the Nuremberg Laws to ostracize the Jews, not much was done about the half-Jews, which allowed most to survive the tragic event.

For our artwork, we used Microsoft Word to design our playing card. We chose to include the two of hearts to symbolize mixed-marriages between two races. We wanted to use the poster of the racial policy of the Nuremberg Laws to show how the Nazis were able to categorize the Jews and partial Jews.

As artists, we wanted to highlight that physical appearance can be an ambiguous characteristic to determine one race from another at times. In looking at specific historical events like the Holocaust, it is important to recognize that certain parts of the world use different methods to segregate one race from another, which further leads to the different methods of ‘passing’.

Project #4 - Infograph

 https://magic.piktochart.com/output/13361798-asa-115-infograph

By: Jingyi Dong, Vy Nguyen, Miggy Cruz and Leslie Do

Inspired by Thomas Teo's “problematization of hybridity in psychology and the human sciences”, we want to demonstrate how general American terms used to describe mixed-race individuals and the mixing process itself have been construed, used and repeated throughout history to make hybridity a problem. By analyzing problematization through historical lenses, we want to emphasize how these terms hold pieces of scientific racism and how they can be applied on a macro level, in this case to Israel. We want to illustrate how this phenomenon not only lies within the boundaries of the United States - but the notion of how mixed-race individuals being criminals, deviants and outcasts are also experienced in other parts of the world. And this is represented by through the timeline at the beginning and followed by a modern interpretation. 

As artists, we desire to break the inevitable roadblock that is silence to allow our audience and the society as a whole to take a glimpse of the truth. And as “truth shares an original affinity with freedom” (Michel Foucault), by recognizing historical and modern discourses, not only are we freeing mixed-race individuals from the notion that hybridity is problematic, but we are also asserting spaces for them to come together in solidarity and reclaim their identities. 

Week 4: Mixed Race Issues for Youth by Alaina and Samantha

For blind readers, here is an alternative link

As the infograph begins, mixed race people are often ostracized, neglected, and even considered physiologically and psychologically unfit. Many terms are thrown their way such as 'bodily maladjusted,' 'bastards,' 'subjugated inhabitants,' and many more. Anti-miscegenation laws were even implicated to address the problem that feared everyone, mostly the considered white superiors. Perhaps one of the most interesting propaganda used to dismay any commitment of two distinct racial groups is the promoted social construct of ‘blood purity’ aiming to discourage ‘racial degradation’ and the presence of the ‘unacceptable colored man.’

This infograph diverges into two umbrella definitions that aligns all insults and exclusion phrases to  “Deviants” and “Outcasts,” both of which are pinned congruently next to the mixed race people. As Teo’s article have stated, these instances of racial issues have survived the past, and, as we can see, still continues today through media, culture, and even education among the youth.

This infograph aims to leave awareness to young readers that continuing issues of race and racism surrounding the mixed race lingers even today.

Week 4: Infograpgh "Moving Forward" - Llesenia, Andrea, and Nicholas

By: Llesenia, Andrea, and Nicholas

When our group was reflecting on origins of the concept of race, especially in the United States, we realized that, although miscegenation laws have been repealed, the notions of set, distinct races still lingers in the minds of people. The subconscious act of mentally categorizing people into distinct racial categories still occurs. Moreover, those who do not fit into these set categories are considered deviants. This is particularly damaging to mixed race people who feel that they belong to more racial category. More importantly, in order to be considered less of a deviant, mixed race people are often forced to choose to present themselves as one race. Therefore, our group created an infograph showing the current viewpoint of mixed race people and how mixed race people should be “evaluated,” if need be. We centered the piece around the experience of one of our group members, Andrea, and her experience being mixed race. Andrea has struggled with people who have tried to categorize her or only acknowledge one of her mixed race identities. We wanted to create an infograph that blurs the lines of this race phenomenon and show that mixed race peoples identity is more complex, not just black and white. We did this in hopes that more people will acknowledge mixed race people’s identity in its entirety.

We used black and white image, with 50/50 percentages, to show how others perceive Andrea as either one or the other, based on how many stereotypes she fits into. The image is in a solid brown frame to show how these racial boundaries trap her. Below it is an of wonder woman to show that Andrea is more than her race(s)and to highlight the fact that human beings are complex with many different aspects that make them who they are. The 5/5 percentages show that Andrea’s race is only a small part of who she is. Once again the image is outlined with a brown box, but this one has dashed lines to show that Andrea is breaking out of these set notions of race.

We used the website canva to make our infograph, as well as googling images that would help our piece. Our artist philosophy is to push the boundary of hegemonic ideas and highlight awareness to different people's struggles. Similarly, the creation of the inforgraph serves to bring awareness and knowledge to people who don't know much about people who identify as mixed raced. With the statistics displayed, we hope that our audience gets an idea of the importance of mixed raced identity and the statistical representations start changing.

Week 4 Infograph. Alexis Quach, Estefanie Herrera, Myura Trawick

Artist statement

The reason why we chose to focus on race labels is to display the multitude of racial slurs from then and now that hold negative, neutral, and positive connotations. We believe that most racial slurs were created to segregate minorities and prevent them from truly integrating into American society, such as “half-breeds” and “hybrids”. These labels connotate “lesser beings” than those who had “pure blood”. Currently, some of these racial slurs are becoming more accepted in society, but still cause some controversy, such as the labels “Chicano” and “Hapa”. For the top portion of our infograph, we define two terms that directly correlate to the race label identities we have chosen. The definitions highlight the broad, yet complex meanings that society places on individuals that do not fit into the socially accepted images of “racial purity”.

In this case for our infograph, we noted that most of the labels stemmed from physical or biological characteristics. As well as doing our own research we discovered that the lack of information about mixed race labels is still prevalent even with the unending knowledge the World Wide Web can provide. Through copious amounts of research/articles we came across many terms that ultimately meant mixed race but had different connotations. Therefore, we decided to highlight some of these terms through our “race label timeline”.

To produce our infograph, we used a website called Canva. As artists, it was helpful finding a site where we chose the background, fonts and colors to highlight specific aspects of our infograph. We displayed our terms in a timeline-like format, showcasing the impact each has had historically and dating them to the start of the 16th century and how it is relevant today. Race labels are used as cultural identifications to tie heritage, culture, and homeland to an individual. Unfortunately, some of these terms do not place that cultural value, instead it strips the person of their identity, placing one over the other.

Week 4 Infographic - Kou Xioung, Thuy Nguyen, Chloe Shiau, Ia Lo

Artist Statement

We decided to create a timeline displaying groups affected by U.S. anti-miscegenation laws. We are all well aware of the stigma of mixed unions created by these laws, but we want to critically look at these laws and expand on what we already know. Throughout U.S history, there had been no laws passed to prevent ethnic groups from mixing with other ethnic groups; however, directed illegalize unions between whites and other racial groups. Each laws illegalized marriage between selective racial groups to further the economical and political agendas of the White American community.  However, these laws are not only marginalizing racial groups, but perpetuating gender inequalities and setting gender norms. Women are universally a target of gender inequalities; white women received consequences for marrying into other racial groups. According to a research conducted by Omar Swartz in “Law, Social Justice, and Marriage: An Anti-Essentialist View”, husbands have the “responsibilities” over their wives; therefore, women, by law, must yield to their husband’s authority. This privilege is reflective of society at large where man dominate woman.  

As artists and composer of this concept, we hope that our viewers grasp more than what we make explicit in the piece, whether it may be informational or a personal realization.

Week 4 Infograph Project: Kurt Romero, Christine Lee, & Angela Nguyen

By Kurt Romero, Christine Lee, & Angela Nguyen

Click here to view our infographic online

Artist Statement:

In relation to mixed-race issues, due to the increasing percentage of the mixed-race community living in Japan, Japanese politicians have raised concerns about the future of Japan and its potential political, social, and economical changes. In efforts of preventing the mixed-race community from affecting the dominant, full-blood Japanese society, many steps have been taken by the government. For example, though implicit, articles of the Nationality Law in Japan was enacted to make most mixed-race people (known as Hafus) outsiders by taking away their Japanese citizenship if they choose to be a citizen of another country. Without Japanese citizenship, this population of Hafus are outcasted by the Japanese society.

In our infographic, we used a browser-based design application to present our information while being visually stylish. We chose to put statistics first to give the viewers a general idea of the mixed-race population, governmental ramifications second to show how conservative and powerful the Japanese government is, and challenges brought about in the Hafu community third to show how their is a notion among the Japanese community that non-fullblood Japanese are deviants.

As artists, we wanted to shine light onto the Hafu population in Japan due to their invisibility within one of their own ethnic communities. While the mixed-race population in America is prevalent, we wanted to raise awareness about global contemporary mixed-race issues and challenges in Japan.

Week 3: Photography - "Life is Lighter When You're Whiter"

By: Angela Nguyen, Christine Lee, Nicholas Sanchez, and Kurt Romero

Upon learning about the case of Rachel Dolezal and her desire to identify as a mixed race person when she was actually of White descent genetically, our group of artists wanted to shine light on a similar issue that relates to the concept of colorism. While Dolezal, as well as many Americans are tanning to achieve their desired skin tones that often deviate from their own race, many women - from Asian countries specifically - have reversed this trend by embracing a more pale and white-looking appearance. While some may argue that these women are race traitors for changing their initial skin pigmentation to that of a lighter Western-looking tone, or cosmetically reshaping their facial features, we also recognize the fact that for many centuries, lighter skin is a symbol for being upper class and more privileged, which could also explain for the lighter skin trend. However, we chose to put an emphasis on the first explanation since it is more relevant in today’s society.

We were mainly inspired by American artist Kip Fulbeck’s photography project, “The Hapa Project” and came up with something similar. We built off the personal anecdotes of his subjects in order to illustrate the positive desire for lighter skin. We captured each of our collaborative artists with and without a whitening product heavily applied onto our faces. We chose to have our subjects smiling with the product applied and to be unenthusiastic without it, reflecting how this whitening products positively affects how we see ourselves and the notions of colorism. Moreover, we placed our subjects from lightest to darkest (left to right) skin tones to show that people who are darker tend to use more products and methods to be lighter in comparison to fairer-skinned individuals. Furthermore, we chose a humorous approach to our artwork to lighten up a complex issue by applying excessive amounts of the whitening cream. By making it comical, our message with colorism became more pronounced while upholding substantial entertainment value.

As artists, students, and various people of color, we collectively wanted to bring about a prevalent  issue regarding race that is ongoing in American society. Through our artwork, we hope to foster intelligent discussions about race while providing laughter with lessons to better ourselves and those around us.

Project #3: Mother to Son: From Powerful Diplomats of the First Nations to Disempowered Race Traitors

By Leslie Do, Hoang Phuong Vy Nguyen, Miggy Cruz, and Jingyi Dong

http://makeagif.com/i/VknFDi

                                     

            Our animation shows that the rewriting of history can create false images of race traitors and taint the prestigious familial reputation of Native American women as cultural translators and diplomats. The book Malinche, Pocahontas and Sacagawea inspired our animation and compilation of many photographs. We created a GIF file consisting of puzzle pieces that transform a portrait of the three mothers into their sons. The silhouette of the transformation symbolizes the converging narratives of the sons as the evolved forms of race traitors.

American colonial powers can use the rewritten history of Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacagewea as "race traitors" to weaken their powerful socioeconomic statuses and legacies as cultural translators and First Nations diplomats. Consequently, the three Native American diplomats' perceived status as race traitor also renders the future generation of their mixed race descendants (such as their sons) as powerless race sell-outs who married colonizers.

As artists, our overall mission is to expose the current conditions of the institutionalization and co-optation of Asian American studies at UC Davis -- especially since ASA has shifted from fighting for equality to being predominantly focused on racial, ethnic labels only.  Our artwork will bring back insurgency and fighting for equality in the next generation of ethnic studies. For instance, we challenge the idea that activism is not just about taking a photograph of yourself in solidarity with an oppressed group’s fight against structural, social injustice and then ending your call to action after you submit the photographs, because narratives and photographs alone are not enough to fight against violations of fundamental, legal rights in the US courts.

Week 3: Colorism

Artist: Samantha Soleta, Chloe Shiau, Thuy Trinh Nguyen, & Kou Xiong

Artist Statement:

Colorism has deep roots within cultures across the globe. With this photo, we hope to highlight a mixed race individual in the wear of one of their ethnic backgrounds. In this photo, we have Alexa, a half Pilipina half Israeli young woman. Within the Pilipino culture, whiter skin is seen as beautiful and preferred. As a “hapa,” Alexa is given the privilege of being seen in her mother’s home country as beautiful, affluent, and superior.

However, here in America one may say she is “too white” to be wearing the clothes of pre-colonial Philippines. Her lack of dark skin and dark hair are contrary to what is typically paired with the clothing of the Mindinao people. She wears a pot on her head for the dance called Banga, performed by the Kalinga tribe. She may be seen as someone trying to find her place in a culture that is not completely her own.

Despite these perspectives, we want to express the importance of empowering yourself through your culture in your own way. Being mixed doesn't mean you must choose a side. Trying to be in touch with one side of your heritage is not a problem. We must allow people to explore and find their places within their cultures and communities without the judgement and naysay of our fellow people.

Week 3: Photography "Family Tree" - Andrea, Estefanie, Llesenia, Myura

By: Andrea, Estefanie, Llesenia, Myura

          As women of color we found our inspiration through our life experience and the differences we share with our siblings. We share the same parents yet our features/skin color vary from our siblings, whether or not we identify as mixed race. Colorism, being discriminated against due to the color of an individual's skin is an issue that can be connected to that of power. In some countries such as Africa and Latin America social status is directly connected to skin color. Allowing them more opportunities of privileges and wealth. Similarly, colorism serves as an oppressor that alienates people in our society and categorizes everyone in social groups. One of the results of colorism is treatment differentiation between people of different complexions. It can be argued that this prejudice not only happens in public social settings and through public interactions, but it is even experienced within the familial structure. Our work exemplifies the experiences of siblings within a family structure and their different treatment within their family based on their skin color. Often times, certain family members are favored and receive better treatment than others because they are of a lighter complexion. Although all members are from the same kinship, the ones with the lighter skin receive the best treatment because our society is structured to favor the skin complexion that is closest to the white.  

This art piece is the embodiment of our (artists) internal feelings and struggles in a single canvas. We hope to not only increase awareness on certain issues but also to influence other individuals, through the art, in a way that leads to and fosters a greater understanding of these social and racial issues. With our art, we hope to bring awareness to these prejudice and racial biases that happen around the world, and experienced predominantly by people of mixed race.  Our goal is not only to bring awareness but to remove this racial lense and appreciate our social and racial diversity  and accept each other as human beings. 

Week 3 Alaina, Ia, Alexis, Ving

In hopes to empower the increasing numbers of the mixed race population, this image was collaborated and organized by Alexis, Alaina, and Ia to represent today’s racial caste system. Society has conformed to conceptualized boundaries and continue to neglect marginalization, and fail to recognize the existence of the marginalized population.

The artists were inspired by Rachel Dolezal’s case of owning her culture and ethnicity as how she personally recognizes herself in. She stepped out of the norm’s preconceived ideas of race and ethnicity as she held herself accountable to any changes to even her physicalities. The artists hope to reveal the prominent issues of the black and white binary complex. In society, people of color, including the mixed race population, are always situated upon the outcasted ground. This is represented by subjects (Alexis and Ia as the marginalized mixed race people) being in the middle of the sun and shadow (white and black binary complex), but only their silhouettes are shown due to society’s, if not disregard, often stereotypical extremes. But in both situations, the mixed race population is considered a ‘perpetual other,’ not showing their true selves: ambiguous, blurred, and neglected (thus only silhouettes are shown). The shadows, or the true unknown identification of the marginalized mixed race, are pushing forward towards the audience of this photo in an attempt to get others to see them as how they perceive themselves or want to be seen as, as opposed to being stereotyped from the color of their skin or race.

Rachel Dolezal’s situation proved to us that society still pursues to dictate boundaries of race, silencing any attempt of self-identification. As artists, we believe that self-identification goes beyond color and race, but attend to one’s character, personality, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc.  As this photo has presented, there are many issues that still force silhouettes upon people’s true characters, and one is the white/black complex.