As a half-white, half-Asian woman I find myself viewed by my white surroundings as a safe and relatable personification of their orientalist fascinations.

As a half-white, half-Asian woman I find myself viewed by my white surroundings as a safe and relatable personification of their orientalist fascinations. I theorize that this intercalary role is a convenient tool for white people to mask racial tensions and guilt. By exhibiting acceptance to people of color who embody whiteness, such as in the “lighter is better” advertisement, in the model immigrant trope, as assumed interracial mediators to white people, and as westernized exotic sexual fantasies, white society attempts to maintain its dominance while exhibiting an image of tolerance.

Sophie Buzak-Achiam, “Stop using mixed race people as symbols of interracial unity to ease your white guilt,” Friktion, May 9, 2018. https://friktionmagasin.dk/stop-using-mixed-race-people-as-symbols-of-interracial-unity-to-ease-your-white-guilt-997208eb420b.

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