Who are Eurasians as defined at this site?
Eurasians are people with a mixed Asian (or "Eastern") and European (or "Western") background (e.g., someone with a Korean mother and French father, a German mother and Chinese father, or parents are themselves mixed in this way). The word is also used to refer to the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union (Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan), as well as the inhabitants of those areas (now countries), but its use at this site is limited to the first meaning.
Are
certain (national) combinations more common than others?
There are more Eurasians with backgrounds corresponding to where Western countries had colonies in Asia—thus there are relatively more Indian-English (known as "Anglo-Indians"), Vietnamese (formerly "Indochinese")-French, and Indonesian-Portuguese/Dutch/English Eurasians (these last are known as "Indos" and are the most numerous type of Eurasian).
Colonizers' attitudes regarding personal relationships between themselves and the local populace largely determined how many interracial children came into being—Eurasians of Indonesian descent are in part more numerous because the Portuguese and Dutch (but not the English) did not frown upon "fraternization", believing it would lessen resentment over being colonized.
One could conjecture that people from certain Asian and European cultures are more compatible with one another, so that there would be more people with that combination of backgrounds, but I don't know of any data proving or disproving that.
Is
there a stereotype of Eurasians, and if so, what is it?
The stereotype of Eurasians is that we are beautiful, intelligent, and sensitive, but also confused and unstable. Although some of these characteristics are positive they should be understood solely as generalizations. Interestingly, two of the traits (beauty and intelligence) are sometimes thought to be mutually exclusive.
In my experience the most commonly-encountered stereotype of Eurasians is the beautiful and/or "interesting-looking" one, followed by "smart but confused". Eurasians in Asia are also often assumed to work in entertainment industries, either legally, as a singer, actor, etc., or illegally, as a sex worker in some capacity.
What
is wrong with being considered both beautiful and intelligent?
Stereotypes are superficial ways of trying to describe people; they also apply to groups rather than actual individuals. In the case of Eurasians, it's also unfair to those who happen to be ugly and/or stupid (kidding).
Being (over)defined in terms of one's appearance can also lead one to (over)experience oneself through the eyes of others.
Incidentally the stereotype of Eurasians as being beautiful seems to exist in both "East" and "West" (in my experience many Asians in the West seem to rationalize "marrying out" to Caucasians by claiming that they simply want to have "beautiful children"—in my opinion an argument which often masks an operative desire to marry into a social strata with higher status]).
Are
there Eurasian communities?
There are a number of Eurasian communities around the world, some going back several centuries: Singapore, Malacca, The Hague, Vancouver, Okinawa, Sydney, Perth, southern California, the Dutch Antilles, Suriname, and Macau/Hong Kong. The most developed of them is probably Singapore, where "Eurasian" is recognized as an official ethnicity and compromises approximately 2%(?) of the population; the country with the largest total number of Eurasians is the Netherlands because of the many Eurasians of Dutch-Indonesian descent who settled there after the overthrow of colonial rule (during which Eurasians were seen as having collaborated with the European colonists and targeted accordingly).
Does
'Eurasianism' refer to the sum total of issues related to being
Eurasian?
The term 'Eurasianism' refers to the geopolitical theory which holds that Russia's identity and destiny should determined primarily by the uniqueness of her geocultural location (bridging Europe and Asia). As a school of thought it reached its zenith of popularity shortly after the Russian Revolution, particularly among the Russian émigré community. It has resurfaced since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but much less prominently (it's sometimes referred to as 'neo-Eurasianism' in this form).*
Having said that, Eurasianism does address some related issues such as incorporating elements from European and Asian cultures or "civilizations", but it adds both a political and economic dimensions (Russia is to pursue a form of development different from both East Asia and Western Europe) as well as an ethnic dimension (so-called "Great Russians" are Slavs, a racial/ethnic group of its own accord). Interestingly, the symbol of the Romanov dynasty (the czars of imperial Russia) was an eagle with two heads (an example of which appears to the left), one facing left and one right, symbolizing Russia's simultaneous East-West orientation (like Eurasians!); this symbol has also reappeared in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(graphic taken from Rick Wyatt's Russian Coat of Arms Page)
*see The Russian Dilemma by Robert Wesson, Exodus to the East: Forebodings and Events: An Affirmation of the Eurasians by P. N. Savitskii, Nikolai Trubetzkoy, Pierre Souvtchinsky, and Georges Florovsky, and The Legacy of Genghis Khan by H.S. Trubetzkoy, as well as the following website: Eurasian Movement.
What
are some terms similar in meaning to Eurasian?
There are a number of terms similar in meaning to "Eurasian", some of them unfortunately derogatory:
Some people have coined neologisms, or new words, for themselves:
A graphically-intensive listing of such terms can be viewed at Bobby Dozier's Hapa Terminology page.
There are also terms now considered outdated:
Don't
some people consider the term 'Eurasian' itself to be problematic?
Some people consider the word Eurasian to be Orientalist—Orientalism being a way of characterizing Asian cultures as exotic and mysterious (and by extension irrational, and thus less human). The term 'Eurasian' was also considered somewhat derogatory in colonial India, for reasons I am unsure of. In the meantime, I know of no other preferable term, at least for myself. In the United States there is a movement to make hapa a term of self-empowerment, but this strikes me as 1) connoting only Americans in the context of Westernness (thereby excluding Europeans, Australians, and others), and 2) encompassing Asian-all mixes (not limiting it to Caucasian-Asians but including so-called "double minorities"—not to marginalize such people, but I think there can be a dynamic when one's racial or ethnic minority heritage is mixed with the "dominant" or "mainstream" one that does not otherwise exist. (Such a dynamic might include the struggle over whether to try to "pass", for example.) Incidentally the term hapa (which seems like a West Coast term to me) also used to be considered derogatory in Hawaii.
Using 'Eurasian' in a geopolitical context (which is commonly done) is uncontroversial, as it is in biology, where it is frequently used in the names of species (because Europe and Asia are connected by land, many plants and animals are indigenous to those two continents alone).
I suppose "Euroasian" could serve a viable alternative to "Eurasian", but it feels cumbersome to me (sort of like saying "East Asian" instead of "Oriental").
How
does this fit into the discourse on multiculturalism and identity
politics?
Eurasians like everybody else are entitled to define themselves as they see fit. At present the multiracial voice is not prominent in discussions of multiculturalism. This is due to two factors in my opinion: 1) there are fewer multiracial people than so-called "full" minorities (although many multiracial people are either unaware of actually being multiracial or choose to not reveal it), and 2) mainstream consciousness of multiraciality is low, with the books, poems, movies and songs which help create awareness only just coming into being.
Additionally, while the discourse on multiculturalism can conceptualize societies composed of diverse racial and cultural elements, it does not yet seem to be able to do so with individuals, at least not without pathologizing them (in the U.S.).
Some people believe the creation of a critical mass of mixed-race people is the best way to eliminate racism, but such a demographic already exists in some places (Brazil, Mexico, the Phillipines, and others) and this has not happened (not that it's not a good idea!).
What
is a good model for multiracial identity?
The same as everybody else's. (In other words, don't try to force yourself into any box that doesn't feel right to you.)
Is
there such a thing as Eurasian cuisine?
There is a Malaccan cuisine known as Cristang (based on Portuguese food with elements of Dutch, English, Malay, Chinese, and Indian cooking) which could be characterized as Eurasian, as well as modern fusion cuisine, a style of cooking which combines ingredients and techniques from East and West. Below is a partial list of such restaurants culled from the Web:
| United States | |
| Bali by the Sea (Waikiki, HI) | Ana Mandara (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Chef Mavro (Honolulu, HI) |
West East Bistro (Hicksville, NY) |
| Aqua Terra (Annapolis, MD) | Slanted Door (San Francisco, CA) |
| Azie (San Francisco, CA) | La Mer (Waikiki, HI) |
| Chinois on Main (Santa Monica, CA) | |
| Crustacean (Beverly Hills, CA) | Oya (Washington, DC) |
| Duck Sauce (Newtown, PA) | On the Bridge (San Francisco, CA) |
| Gatsby's (Las Vegas, NV) | Lure Restaurant (San Mateo, CA) |
| Ixia Restaurant (Baltimore, MD) | Café at the Four Seasons (Austin, TX) |
| Palomino Euro Bistro (Honolulu, HI) | Ninniku-Ya Garlic Restaurant (Honolulu, HI) |
| Chez Jeannine's Salon de Thé (DeLand, FL) | Le Colonial (Emeryville, CA) |
|
Hapa Sushi (four locations in Colorado) |
Hapa Grill (Park City, UT) |
| A Pacific Café (Honolulu, HI) | Cafe Kati (San Francisco, CA) |
| The Red Garlic Bistro (Sebastian, FL) | Hapa Grill (Beaverton, OR) |
| Erawan (Chicago, IL) | Azie Restaurant (Media, PA) |
| Le Mikado (Chicago, IL) | Le Cheval (Berkeley, CA) |
| Ninna (Oakland, CA) | CreAsian (San Leando, CA) |
| Eurasian Grill (West Bloomfield, MI) | Restaurant Hapa (Oldsmar, FL) |
| Fusion (Lake Arrowhead, CA) | Waterfront Café & Cabaret (Honolulu, HI) |
| André's Eurasian Bistro (Bellevue, WA) | Hapa Grill (Honolulu, HI) |
| Eurasian Eatery (Red Bank, NJ) | Le Colonial (New York, NY) |
| Z (Los Altos, NM) | Pasteur Restaurant (Chicago, IL) |
| SuLan (Bexley, OH) | Panya Bakery and Café (Honolulu, HI) |
| Citizen (Dallas, TX) | Indigo (Honolulu, HI) |
| 3660 On the Rise (Honolulu, HI) | Roy's (24 locations throughout the U.S.) |
| Australia | New Zealand |
| Ashcroft's (Blackheath) | Nannah's Kitchen (Onehunga) |
| Lobster Cave Restaurant (Melbourne) | |
| Eurasian 48 (Sydney) | Canada |
| Jazushi (Surry Hills) | Shark City Bar and Grill (Toronto) |
| Gungho Eurasian Cuisine (Sydney) | East-West Restaurant (Vancouver) |
| Dee's Eurasian Cuisine (Newcastle) | East West Restaurant (Dartmouth, NS) |
| The Grange (Adelaide) | Marlowe Restaurant & Wine Bar (Richmond Hill, Ontario) |
Fengtastic (Perth) | |
|
Moolie's Bar & Grill (Perth) | South Africa |
| Curry Devil's Hot Eats (Perth) | Bowl Restaurant (Cape Town) |
| Germany | United Kingdom |
| Gingko (Frankfurt am Main) | Eurasian Tandoori Restaurant (Cardiff, Wales) |
| Fusion (Hamburg) | Raffles (Warwickshire, England) |
| Graugans (Cologne) | Mr. Singh's Taster (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Czech Republic | Indonesia |
| Metropol Oriental Restaurant (Prague) | Eurasian Crossroads Restaurant & Pub (Jakarta) |
| Essensia (Prague) | |
| Singapore | |
| Switzerland | Nectar Restaurant & Bar |
| Restaurant foodLAB (Zuerich) | Casa Bom Vento |
| Quentin's | |
| Ireland | Eurasian |
| Victoria Hall Restaurant (Carrick-on-Shannon) | |
| China | |
| Japan | Rive Gauche (Sanya) |
| Kihachi (Tokyo) | |
| West Park Cafe (Tokyo) | Malaysia |
| Cristang (Kuala Lumpur) | |
| Thailand | |
| A Matter of Taste (Bangkok) | Azerbaijan |
| Taboo (Baku) | |
| Bali | |
| The Living Room |
Where
do Eurasians form a demographic majority?
While not a majority there, hapas in Hawaii are the numerically largest ethnoculturally-defined group in the state (there is no ethnically-based majority group in Hawaii).
What
lies behind prejudice against people who are mixed?
Some people think persons from different racial backgrounds should not marry and have children because they believe the so-called races are separate and distinct (with some better than others, naturally). Such a mentality would lead to problems since the very existence of the multiracial person would challenge that person's belief system.
Eurasians in Asia sometimes encounter discrimination there because historically many of their mothers were impregnated by Westerners, with the woman often having been raped or forced to sell herself (and the father often having been a soldier). The children are thus sometimes viewed as illegitimate as well as shameful reminders of a period in that culture's history when it was exploited. While this is not usually the case for Eurasians in the West, different issues may arise there, such as questions of one's cultural loyalties and/or values, and perceived racial ambiguity by others (the latter is especially true in the U.S. because of the legacy of hypodescent).
Why
do many people assume that one's father is Western and one's mother
Eastern?
Historically more East-West marriages have taken place between Western men and Eastern women, for a variety of possible reasons:
Although such conditions no longer formally exist, a continuing patriarchal and/or fetishizing dynamic (the West as masculine, the East as feminine) will continue to persist for some time. (It will continue to weaken, however, especially as Asia as a continent continues to grow in economic and political power.)
Isn't
the word 'Eurasian' sometimes used by Asian-Americans to describe
themselves?
Yes, the argument being that white Americans share a cultural heritage similar enough to that of Europeans to blur the difference between ethnicity and culture; personally I think "New World" cultures differ enough from "Old World" ones to justify a separate appellation.
Who would you consider to be the "face" of Eurasians?
The person that in my opinion would have best fit that role would have been Brandon Lee, who was of course tragically killed in an accident during the filming of "The Crow" in 1993. That leaves three alternatives to my mind: Dean Cain, Russell Wong, and Keanu Reeves. I find Cain to be too self-effacing to be broadly popular (at least in the U.S.) and Wong to be too Asian-looking, which leaves Keanu, who looks the most mixed to me and is the most famous of the three anyway. Now if he could just learn to act (just kidding). I realize all of the above are men (and actors) and that other people might have different "nominees". Among the women I personally find Kelly Hu to be appealing.
Was
Spock Eurasian, and what should I do if someone compares me to him?
Spock was Eurasian without question—just look at his stereotype-based character: Asian insofar that he had straight black hair, narrow eyes, a coldly rational and logical personality (keep in mind these are Western stereotypes), knowledge of secret fighting techniques (i.e., Vulcan death grip and mindmeld, similar to "Oriental" fighting techniques), as well as a constricted and asexual social life (mirroring the emasculation of Asian men in the West).
He was Western insofar as he was "half-human"—manifested in occasional displays of heartfelt emotion (which were always nonetheless short-lived, however). He was also rejected by his father at birth for being too "human", thereby invoking the image of the tragic mulatto.
If compared to Spock you can point out that:
1) You're fully human, not half (keep in mind Kirk's eulogy in Star Trek III saying that Spock's soul was the most human he had ever encountered),
and/or2) Spock was the smartest and strongest member of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
You can also ask them which one of your halves they consider to be the human one.
Why
are Europe and Asia considered discrete landmasses instead of a single continent
which could be called Eurasia?
Apparently geographers do prefer to define things this way (it's sometimes called six-continent combined-Eurasia model), as far as I can tell it's a hangover from 19th century European cartographers who may have been working off a model which dates back to the pre-Christian era (ancient Greeks, who coined the terms Europe and Asia, saw the waters off their shores separating them from areas like current-day Turkey and the Middle East as representing a civilizational as well as geographic divide). Interestingly, when I was in Russia I sometimes saw the phrase "European peninsula" used in English-language papers published there. Maybe we should start calling it "Northwest Asia" from now on.
Isn't
everyone multiracial since pure races don't exist?
While it is true that there is no such thing as pure races, I believe racial issues (or more precisely, the economic, political, and social realities which lie behind them) need to be examined explicitly rather than denied or repressed.
Communities with less(er) genetic diversity suffer higher rates of congenital defects because of inbreeding, almost as if being multiracial is genetically advantageous (maximizing genetic variation is the scientific explanation for the evolutionary division of organisms into male and female).
There is a theory which holds that mixed-race people are inherently genetically fitter known as "hybrid vigor".
Do
monoracial societies tend to differ in their reactions to Eurasian men
versus women?
In my opinion, being Eurasian can be more problematic for men than women for a number of reasons:
When
and where was the word Eurasian first used?
As far as I can tell the term 'Eurasian' was first used by 19th century British colonists in Southeast Asia; it was created in order to differentiate people (who were descendants of local Malays and Portuguese and Dutch colonists) from the English, since those designated as Eurasian often looked European and could be mistaken for British.
The word "Amerasian" was first used by Pearl S. Buck, in her novel East Wind, West Wind, published in 1930.
Wasn't
'Eurasian' also once used exclusively for people of Indonesian descent?
I believe so, but many other people of non-Indonesian descent use the term to describe themselves, and the general understanding of the word is the broader one, in my experience.
Do
Eurasians usually look mixed?
Eurasians can run the gamut of looking "very" mixed (whatever that means) to having a monoracial appearance (in either "direction").
Are
there Eurasian languages or dialects?
There is a language/dialect known as kristang which is a offshoot of Portuguese with elements of Malay as well as Petjo, a dialect comprised of Dutch words based on Malay grammar. For more information see the work of University of Macau linguist Alan N. Baxter.
Do
monoracial Asians and Caucasians tend to react similarly to Eurasians,
in general?
As a generalization I find that there is more of a tendency to admire the Eurasian look among Asians. (There is somewhat of a low-grade cult of worship of Eurasian-looking people in Asia, especially Japan). Both groups can have other positive and negative stereotypes, however, with many Asians also sometimes seeing Eurasians as the unwanted products of wars of Western colonialism and Westerners seeing them as "mixed up", either racially or psychologically. Class status seems to make a big difference—poor Eurasians seem to be looked down on even more so than they would otherwise, while educated and/or wealthy Eurasians seem to get the benefit of the doubt, if not outright admiration, of many outside observers.
Why
do some people use the term Eurasian as if it were synonymous with
Asian?
I have no idea, I don't think they know what they're talking about.
Is
it our role to serve as a bridge between East and West?
Perhaps to an extent, but this is not something by which we should feel either obligated or confined. Also, with the ever-increasing intermingling of the world's peoples, such bridges now exist in other places, so that we are no longer the sole carriers of such a "message" (the author Han Suyin once said that all Asians are now Eurasian, in the sense that Western culture has become so prevalent that all Asians have been Westernized to a certain extent).
The Tong Tong Fair (formerly known as Pasar Melam Besar) is a Eurasian festival in The Hague. More information on it can be found here.
Does
conceptualizing these issues in terms of personal identity reveal a
Western, especially American, bias?
Yes.
Which
other groups share our perspective?
Amerasians have a similar background, although traditionally the term Amerasian specifically connotes the offspring of male American military personnel and Asian women (who were often impregnated either by rape or in their role as a prostitute). Many such children were born during various Western "interventions" in the East, such as the American colonization of the Philippines and post-war occupation of Japan, the U.N. participation in the Korean War, and the French and American presence in Vietnam. Sadly, many Amerasians and their mothers were often abandoned by their American fathers and rejected by their host societies.
Other mixed-race people, regardless of the specifics of their background, can often empathize with Eurasians in various ways (people interpreting your physical appearance as ambiguous, and so on), as can any open-minded person in general, if they make the effort.
Identify yourself as Eurasian on forms where the option to check off "multiracial", "other", or "all that apply" does not exist. Campaign for the inclusion of such options on forms, or for the complete abolition of racial categorization altogether where and when it seems appropriate to do so (ethnically-oriented healthcare and direction of social services seem to be the exception).
Include all parts of your ethnocultural heritage when asked about it.
Learn about every part of your background.
Combat racism as well as beliefs in racial purity, the use of terms such as 'half-breeds' and 'mutts' when used to refer to people, and don't allow people to treat you as if you are confused because of their inability to pigeonhole you. At the same time, propagate the argument about "hybrid vigor" whenever possible.
You can also take out a subscription to MAVIN magazine, and participate in various online forums about mixed or even Eurasian identity.
Where
I can study these issues?
There are several academic programs which offer somwhat relevant courses of study:
Different departments (sociology, psychology, anthropology, comparative literature, etc.) can be used to address East-West topics. More forums for examining these issues should arise as the multiracial percentage of the population continues to increase.
Some folks in academia are: Cynthia L. Nakashima (ethnic studies), Teresa Williams-Leon (Asian American studies), Maria P. P. Root (psychology), Philip Tajitsu Nash, Gin Pang (sociology), George Kitahara Kich (psychology), Christine Iijima Hall (psychology), Paul Spickard (history), Wei Ming Dariotis (ethnic studies), Jigna Desai (women's studies), Carol Spaulding (English), Lane Ryo Hirabayashi (anthropology), David Parker (cultural studies), Peter Nien-Chu Kiang (education), Isabelle Pelaud (Asian American studies), Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, John P. Rosa (history), Gordon Nagayama Hall (psychology).
Do
you know of any psychotherapists of Eurasian descent?
Helena Jia Hershel (Chinese-Austrian) in Oakland and Maria Root (Filipina-Spanish-American?) in Seattle. At the same time, ethnocultural background is only one aspect of identity and by itself does not necessarily ensure a good therapeutic fit.
Are
there any old Eurasian houses still standing in Hong Kong?
There is a row of such houses in Macau which have been restored and turned into a museum area known as the Casas-Museu de Taipa (The Taipa Houses- Museum).
Isn't
dividing people and cultures into East and West both arbitrary and
artifical?
Yes.
Should
we just "take the best of both worlds"?
While often given as "the solution" (what's the problem again?), we cannot always choose how we have been influenced by families and upbringing. Also, I believe that cultures are holistic systems, meaning it's misguided to believe that one can simply take elements from them selectively (similar to how you cannot predict all the consequences of trying to change natural environments by altering one variable, such as introducing a non-native fish to eliminate algae for example). Having said that, as adults people are free (or should be) to create their own identities, and draw on different sources of strength.
Aren't
multiple and disparate influences a part of everyone's reality,
especially nowadays?
For most people yes (to paraphrase the comedian Ashleigh Brilliant: "No wonder I'm mixed up—one of my parents was a man, the other was a woman!").
Some people think that by capitalizing the letter 'A' they ensure that the Asian part of the word is accorded equal significance to the European part.
Is
this site biased towards Eurasians of East Asian heritage?
Maybe, although I tried to keep it from being so. Some bias may have crept in as I was born and raised in the U.S. (where the term "Asian" is generally understood to mean East Asian*, and am of Chinese descent myself).
*In Great Britain the word "Asian" is often used to mean South Asian, while in France people of East Asian descent, regardless of national origins, are often referred to as "Chinese".
Are
mixed-race people really better looking?
Some studies on the subject of physical appearance have found that beauty is less subjective than commonly thought—which makes the stereotype of general multiracial beauty possible, at least in theory. (Because cross-racial genetic makeups may "average out" one's features more, they may create greater degrees of facial symmetry [symmetry is thought to be the most important element in determining attractiveness]. To see a research article on the subject click here: Perceiving attractiveness: does race matter?).
Having said that, however, it should again be stressed that such a stereotype should be seen only as a generalization and nothing more.
Is
there a certain amount of privilege in being monoracial regardless of
one's race?
Arguably, although I think its extent would depend on the context—places like Hawaii or Brazil might offer little or no advantages. This does not mean that any monoracial identity is easier to negotiate than any multiracial one, simply that multiracial identities may pose certain unique challenges.
Is
the word "hapa" (or "hapa haole") reserved solely for people of partial
indigenous Hawaiian descent?
Some have made that argument, to read more about it see the well-designed if somewhat strident site RealHapas.
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Does focusing on
ethnocultural issues risk potentially indulging in some of identity
politics' allegedly regressive tendencies?
Perhaps—while the importance of ethnocultural
background is often unduly minimized, especially in the U.S., it also
shouldn't be used to support an overly narrow or defensive point of
view. I had thought about approaching these issues from a purely
cultural perspective, but that would have been overly broad because
of the depth and complexities of the various cultures of Europe and
Asia.
In any case many of the criticisms of identity politics tend to come from those whose interests are threatened by the empowerment of others, and shouldn't be heeded too strongly.
Having said that much of identity politics (or at least the practice of it),
because it so often uncritically bases itself on individualistic
notions (while at the same time claiming to challenge them), can sometimes be somewhat
ill-suited to the interests of people with more collectivistic or
sociocentric backgrounds.
[back to top]
I had looked online for treatment of these issues in the late 90's and couldn't find anything; I also wanted to create a list of resources to help college and graduate students who have the interest and opportunity to examine these issues formally.