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Hapa
Studies
definition
of "hapa" & other terms
| some
questions for hapa studies
Definition
of "Hapa" & Other Terms
- Hapa
is a Native Hawaiian word, originally meaning simply "part"
or "mixed," with no racial or ethnic meaning. It became associated
with the phrase hapa haole during the influx of European immigrants,
many of whom intermarried with the ali’i, or land-owning class,
of Native Hawaiians. Later, as Japanese immigrants were imported
as plantation labor, the Japanese Hawaiian population adopted
the term hapa, mostly to refer to people of mixed Japanese
and European heritage. Today, the word hapa includes AfroAsians,
EurAsians, Latin Asians, Native Asians and mixed APAs. The
hapa community also includes trans-racial adoptees, such as
Koreans or Chinese raised by white parents.
- Mixed-race
is defined as having one parent of Asian or Pacific Islander
descent, and another of some other race, such as white, African
American, or American Indian. As of the 2000 Census, which
is the first to define Asians and Pacific Islanders as being
of different "races," someone with one Asian parent and one
Pacific Islander parent, is also technically mixed-race.
- Mixed-ethnicity
is defined as having parents of more than one Asian or Pacific
Islander group, but not some other "race." Thus, a Pakistani-Chinese
or Tongan-Hawaiian would be considered individuals of mixed
ethnicity, but a Pakistani-Hawaiian would be considered someone
of mixed-race, according to the way the Census divides Asians
from Pacific Islanders.
- Amerasian
is a term referring to people of blended "American" and Asian
ancestry --- with the assumption often being that the American
side is European American or African American, and from the
father who was in the military and served in a war in Asia
--- usually in Korea, Japan, or Vietnam. The relatively high
number of enlisted people of color, and the diversity of "American"
ethnicities, is often ignored. This term has occasionally
been used as a catch-all for Asians of mixed heritage, but
is now often used with specifically to refer to the groups
outlined above.
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Some
Questions for Hapa Studies
- Is
it even legitimate to use the term "Hapa Studies?"
What is the difference between saying Hapa Studies and Mixed
Heritage or Mixed Race Studies?
- How
does "Hapa Studies" relate to Asian American Studies?
Is it merely another group, like an ethnic group (eg. Vietnamese,
Indian, etc.?) or is it a paradigm-shifting idea that moves
across ethnic boundaries and forms a specific site for the
development of "pan-ethnic" Asian Pacific Americanism?
- Which
Ethnic Studies departments are most open to Mixed Heritage
Studies? Is there hostility towards Mixed Heritage Studies,
is so, why, and what can be done about it?
- How
does Hapa Studies relate to the larger "Mixed Race"
social and political movement (eg. the movement involving
Census classification)?
- Why
is current work in Hapa Studies primarily sociological and
psychological?
- What
are some critical issues/areas of research we need to develop
(eg. health care policy)?
- What
is the future of Hapa Studies? Where do we go from here?
How do we get there?
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