Ziqi Yin ASA 115, Week 2 Reading blog

This week we are focusing on “Mixed-Race Experiences: Race Traitors,” which is an attempt to create awareness on the fact that there are people who are more privileged in America due to their White skin while going through part of the social prejudices imposed on people from the Black community. The phrase “race traitor” illustrates a form of treason towards Whiteness as a strategy to achieve loyalty to humanity. It is very likely for mixed-race persons to be interrogated based on their identity with statements like “what are you?” Also, some mixed-race individuals are called race traitors for opting to identify with all of their heritage instead of a specific one.

In the series “Part Asian, 100% Hapa: A Retrospective,” Kip Fulbeck explores the experiences of Hapa in an exhibition of portraits featuring subjects from different walks of life and ages. The project also involves a series of interviews with the participants to document their experiences in terms of self-perceptions and identities to combat the stigma associated with the topic. The Hapa Project delves deeper into the subject by exploring how a person’s memory can influence their confidence, close association, and identity with their roots, upbringing, and also appearance. Fulbeck’s work is an attempt to address the question “what are you?” by combining portraits of Hapa – with no clothing, make-up or jewelry- alongside statements of who they identify as to offer an intimate and compelling perspective on the complexity surrounding contemporary American identity. As I read through the individual accounts, it is nearly impossible to predict the subject’s feelings about being mixed-race. The article prompts me to ask, “Are there people who feel betrayed by personal accounts of mixed-race identities because they fail to understand these specific individuals?”