In elementary school, I was thrilled to participate in the culture fair. I chose my mom to help me, as I grew up fond of the food I would eat when I visited my grandpa’s ranch. We spent hours cooking tamales and pozole, but, to my surprise, I received confused looks from my classmates and teachers.
In high school, I was cast in the school play as a Chinese gold miner in 1840s California named Shu Lan. The director said I couldn’t play any other role or it would be “historically inaccurate.” My peers said I should be grateful because Shu Lan was created especially for me. At the time, I didn’t understand how historically insensitive, racist, and glamorized this role was. So, yes, I did end up standing on stage in front of hundreds of people in a costume from Chinatown.
I am, in fact, not Chinese, and I wasn’t raised by an Asian family. I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Oahu, Hawai’i. I was adopted by a first-generation Hispanic and Native American mother and white father and raised by a mixed family of rural, urban, biracial, adopted LGBTQ+, disabled, Catholic, and Mormon relatives. I am a transracial adoptee, an Asian American woman of color, and I reside with many different cultures.
A transracial adoption occurs when at least one of the adoptive parents is of a different race than the adopted child. Today, approximately 40 percent of families created through adoption in the United States are transracial, with an overwhelming number being white parents adopting a child of color. Prospective parents interested in transracial adoption, however, need to be aware of its implications.
Many adoptive parents are not prepared to raise a child from a race different than their own. Although many families are rightfully proud of having adopted transracial children, American society narrowly defines what constitutes a family. Internationally adopted children of color experience discrimination differently from same-race adoptive families because the child’s adoptive status and racial differences are immediately visible. People of color experience racism in America regardless of their family of origin. Transracial adoptees are not exempt from racism, even if they were raised by a white family.
Adult transracial adoptee subjects in a Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology study described having received unsolicited comments about their adoption status and intrusive questions about their racial-ethnic background: “Where were you born? Who are your real parents?” Although inquiries may be framed as harmless curiosity, the underlying message reflects a biased worldview reminding them that they do not belong. The bottom line is race matters, especially with persistent racism and prejudice toward people of color.
Although I still have much more to learn, I can neither ignore nor neglect parts of my identity, and I am more than just biologically Korean. I used to feel frustrated that I couldn’t be raised by my biological parents, but I have grown a profound appreciation for my identity. I hope to build on my mission of empowering underrepresented communities to honor my grandparents who couldn’t afford to go to college, my birth mother who had no legal or financial support to provide for me, my ancestors who have been oppressed, and, of course, Shu Lan.
