by Connie Zheng and Salley Lee
Ethnic identity can be a difficult issue many adopted Asian Americans face. Unlike Asian Americans who struggle between identifying with the culture of their motherland or the culture of America, adopted Asian Americans experience another layer of complexities on their journey to find their identity. Most adopted Asian Americans are adopted and raised in predominantly white communities in the midwest. Raised as an American, usually without much Asian influence, but with the physical appearance of an Asian, can create inner dissonance. Jin Mei McMahon ‘17, an adopted Chinese-American, describes this dissonance by saying, “Being part of a family that is mostly white has created an odd kind of dissonance for me, and for a while, I did everything I could to try and deny the fact I was any different from my white peers. Hanging out with other Asians was a no-go; connecting myself to any part of Asian culture even more so.” She further explains the contrast between her appearance and feelings with her experience from high school. “You have two options come lunchtime: sit with the people who look like you, or sit with the people who feel like you”. Liana Hudson ‘17, an adopted Chinese-American, recalled her first experience in China at the age of 8 of not knowing how to identify herself. Inwardly, she felt white, and yet, when she explained she was from the United States, “Many would tell me, “no, but you’re still Chinese”’. Annie Malecek ‘16, an adopted Korean American, describes other challenges adopted Asian Americans face in the United States. She explains that, because others cannot tell that she is adopted based on her appearance, the way she is treated by society is probably no different than any other Asian American. However, she expresses, the way she was raised and how she navigates such experiences is probably very different from non-adopted Asian Americans. As an adopted Asian American growing up with Caucasian parents, she was raised to believe that she has the same privileges of white Americans. “But that’s simply not true,” Annie says. She continues to point out that her parents do not think that racial discrimination exists, thus, her parents were unable to “give [her] the tools to combat racial discrimination.” Annie explains that as an adopted Korean American, Korean culture is not passed on to her. Instead, Korean culture is something she has to create and actively seek out if she wants it to have meaning for her. She suggests that wanting to reconnect with one’s ethnic culture is as personal a choice as wanting to meet one’s birth parents. She further stresses that an adoptee’s journey to meet their birth parents is very personal; it should not be assumed that it is a trip every adoptee wants to make. An example of such a journey is seen through Youtube star akaDan. Those who are interested in viewing his experience can follow this link:
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