Multiracial and Adopted Asians

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

The peoples of Europe are of such mongrel origin that any attempt at classification according to only two characteristics (colour of eyes and hair) would exclude two-thirds of the population in any region studied; the addition of a third characteristic (cranial formation) would leave us with a still smaller fraction of the population presenting the required combination of all three characteristics; and with the inclusion of stature and nasal index, the proportion of «pure» types would become infinitesimal.

We may take it then that there are no pure human races; at the very most it would be possible to define a pure race in terms of the incidence of one selected somatic characteristic, but never in terms of all or even of the majority of hereditary traits. Nevertheless there is a widespread belief that there was a time in antiquity when racial types were pure, that miscegenation is of relatively recent date, and that it threatens humanity with a general degeneration and retrogression. This belief lacks the slightest support from science. The mixing of races has been going on since the very beginning of human life on earth, though obviously the improvement of communications and the general increase in population has stimulated it in the last two centuries. Migration is as old as the human race, and automatically implies cross-breeding between groups.

Juan Comas, Racial Myths (Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1951), 12-13.

Multiracial and Adopted Asians

Multiracial and Adopted Asians

Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education
Volume 3, Number 2 (Fall 2001)
Theme: Interracial and Mixed-racial Relationships and Families

C. N. Le, Senior Lecturer Professor
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

In the 1980s Asian Americans became the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States in terms of percentage growth. As part of this growth, the number of those who are multiracial and adopted from Asia is increasing significantly. These particular Asian Americans face unique political and cultural challenges from Asians and non-Asians alike. While many struggle to fit into both cultures, many are creating their own identity that unites, rather than separates, their experiences.

Table of Contents

All Mixed Up?
All Asians Alone or with Other Races
Room to Grow
Much More Than the Sum of the Parts
References
Editor’s Note

Read the eniter article here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 at 05:34Z and is filed under Articles, Asian Diaspora, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Mixed Race Studies

Multiracial and Adopted Asians

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