The right to say who you are

Early consciousness of identity Finding parallels through art Refusing to use a Chinese name to identify as Asian American The Hapa Project Perceptions of uniqueness Defusing myths through The Hapa Project Difficulty responding to the question "What are you?" Lessons learned from The Hapa Project Differing responses by gender to the Hapa Project Identity as a conscious ongoing process Japanese Americans are more aware of their Hapa identity Hapa as his primary identity Discomfort at being labeled by others International dimensions of hapa identity Issues of identity outside of America Imposing identity upon others Changing fortunes of "identity art" The right to say who you are Defining the term "Hapa"

Transcripts available in the following languages:

As long as people are active and adamant about saying that they have a right to say who they are, and that no one else gets to tell them who they are. That’s the really important thing. I think that’s—if I have a kid, that’s one thing I’d like to instill in him or her and I think that if you have kids and so forth or if you have friends, that you don’t have a right to tell someone they’re not black enough, or they’re not—you know? You don’t have that right. And if someone says that to you I’m like, “You know what? You don’t know me well enough to say that.” I like people to be able to have—hopefully this project in some small way will help someone do that.

Date: May 3, 2006
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Jim Bower
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

hapa identity multiracial