Background

Research on interracial Asian American narratives is scarce. Much of the current data is on interracial couples and family making, with very little focused on the children of those families. The U.S. Census reports a 55% growth in Asian Americans in combination with some other races since 2010. Interracial Asian Americans make up 1.3% of Marylanders, yet there is still very little data. 

Generalizations about the Asian American community as a whole are difficult when the Asian American community itself is composed of many diverse ethnic groups. This diversity of ethnic groups makes it difficult to examine the status of interracial marriage, as it differs between groups. Many studies use quantitative data that required self-identification, with Asian American as a single category, leaving out the ability to further explore ethnic differences. Qualitative studies show the importance of ethnic differences; the experiences of interracial Asian Americans/interracial Asian American couples relate heavily to ethnic backgrounds (Weatherspoon, 2021; Chong, 2013; Chong, 2021). Especially in the U.S., where racial division has historically been on the basis of skin color, studies must further explore the differences between Asian American ethnic groups. For example, while it is commonly known that minority women have higher rates of interracial marriage with White men than minority men with White women, this difference is not the same between ethnic groups as Indian women do not follow that pattern (Lee & Kye, 2016). Even within interracial individuals, ethnicity of parents play a heavy role in identity creation (Weatherspoon, 2021). A Black-Filipina woman will not have the same experience as a Taiwanese-Japanese man, who will not have the same experience as a Chinese-Swiss-Italian woman (Weatherspoon, 2021). Finding similarities in the experience of such a diverse community will help to form a theory about interracial Asian American identity and exploring the differences can add data on specific ethnic groups.

Though there is a need for this data, many qualitative research techniques reproduce power hierarchies between the researchers and participants. This project generated an archive of narratives using digital storytelling techniques to work collaboratively and ensure the storytellers have full authority over the creation and dissemination of their stories.

Sources

Chong, K. H. (2013). Relevance of Race: Children and the Shifting Engagement with Racial/Ethnic Identity among Second-Generation Interracially Married Asian Americans. Journal of Asian American Studies, 16(2), 189–221. https://doi-org.proxy-bc.researchport.umd.edu/10.1353/jaas.2013.0019

Chong, K. H. (2021). Introduction. Love across borders : Asian Americans, race, and the politics of intermarriage and family-making. Routledge, 1-28.

Lee, J. C., & Kye, S. (2016). Racialized Assimilation of Asian Americans. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, 253–273.

Qian, Z. & Qian, Y. (2021). Generation, education, and intermarriage of Asian Americans. Migration and Marriage in Asian Contexts (1st ed., pp. 2880–2895), essay, Routledge.

Weatherspoon, M. L. (2021). It Wasn’t That I Was Ugly, It’s That I Wasn’t White: Casted shadows, lifted veils, and mediated intimacies through the lens of mixed Asian American subjectivities. Senior Projects Spring 2021. 147. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2021/147