Viewed as symbols of 'moral degradation' and 'racial impurity' in the 19th century; Eurasians began as social pariahs. The marginalised Tanka people (an ethnic Southeast Asian group who have traditionally lived on junks along the coast of Guangdong, Hong Kong & Macau) catered to foreign sailors docked in Hong Kong. The men aided British soldiers and the women worked (or were forced) as prostitutes.
Outcast from the Hong Kong Chinese population, many Tanka women formed relationships with Western men and gave birth to Eurasian bbs. These relations only further marginalised the Tanka people, with the mixed children seen as embodiments of shame and sin by both Western and Asian communities.
Fast forward to the 21st century and attitudes have shifted- but not in an entirely positive direction. Labelled as exotic and fetishised, Eurasian womxn and men are often lauded for their unique physical appearance. Eurasians serve as a palatable curiosity for both cultures; not too Chinese for a Western person, and not too Western for a Chinese.
Questions and comments about ethnicity and identity are constant: “How do you speak such good English?”, “No, where are you REALLY from?”, “Oh, well at least you don’t look THAT asian”, “You don’t really belong to either country do you?”
These are phrases that have been said to me on a number of occasions.
This begs the question, why does it matter? I am from there and here, I speak that language and this. Both places I am from are my home. The intersection of cultures will always be a point of curiosity, but as time goes on and the world becomes smaller, acceptance and inclusion becomes more and more important.
So,
here you are
too foreign for home
too foreign for here.
Never enough for both.
- Diaspora blues by Ijeoma Umebinyuo