You've seen so much in the news about racial diversity. Well,
I'm here to say that I am a Happa and I am proud!
What is a Happa, you ask? A Happa is a person who has one Asian parent and one non-Asian parent. In my case, I'm half Japanese and half Caucasian (read really mixed ancestry...British, Irish, French...that I know of). Like others who claim this description, I hated filling out forms. What box do you check? And why can't I chose more than one? Which part of me would you like to suppress? Because whichever side you chose, you're missing out on the whole experience. Especially all of those divergent interests that were created by my bouncing life (I was also a Navy brat).
Living in Hawaii, I was called a happa-haole. But in those days of innocence, I didn't know that the term "Happa" would come to define who I am as I got older and more well-rounded (no, not talking about my weight!). It's a new world now, for I have found that I am not the only person howling about the unfairness of checkboxes!
more... |
