explaining thoughts in my head + typing out loud
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Yellow fever. I learned about yellow fever from my first white boyfriend. When we started dating, he would rub my forearm as if he was polishing silver. All the while, in a mocking Chinese accent mantra, he would say "AYshen gurl hahb belly, belly shmooj shkeen - white gurl hahb belly, belly hruff shkeen. shmooj AYshen shkeen!" Translation: …
“You look Chinese, but your last name is Mexican. Is Filipino Mexican-Chinese?” - asked my first white, Irish-Catholic college boyfriend. An unintentionally comical and ignorant question, similar questions have been asked throughout my life. I am 56 years old. This was asked in 1984. Surprisingly, I am asked, much more than I expect, whether Filipinos are Asians. I currently answer, “Yes, that is the box I check on forms.”
My interest in self-identity is piqued. I identify as a Filipino-American, born in the United States to Filipino parents - father in the Navy, mother a nurse - from the Philippines. I have a Chemical Engineering degree from UC Berkeley. … One Degree of Separation. These are people whose books I’ve read, whom I’ve heard speak, and in one case, whose wedding I’ve attended. Their wisdom continues to shape my thoughts about identity.
