What It Means to Be Hapa

Today's guest post is by Ken Tanabe, founder of Loving Day, a global movement for a new holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia.  Loving Day's mission is to fight racial prejudice through education and to build multicultural community.  Ken will lead a conversation about what it means to be hapa with artist Kip Fulbeck on Thursday, December 8, 6:30p.m. at the Museum of Chinese in America.  This event is part of the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations series, exploring mixed-heritage families, race, ethnicity, culture, and identity, infused with historical perspective.

The word "hapa" comes from Hawaii, a historical hot spot for interracial marriage, and the birthplace of the first multiethnic US President. It most commonly refers to people whose multiethnic heritage includes Asian ancestry. The hapa identity is an especially vibrant part of a growing movement towards multiethnic identity and community.

Being hapa wasn't always a good thing. Interracial marriage was illegal in many states for most of US history, including marriage between whites and Asians. This made hapa children illegitimate in many places. Punishments for the parents of hapas could be anything from denial of a legal marriage to jail time and fines. These laws (and the social attitudes that formed them) made it clear that hapas should not expect a warm welcome into the world. Interracial marriage bans were not lifted until 1967 through a landmark Supreme Court decision aptly named Loving v. Virginia (now celebrated as Loving Day).

In 2011, hapas are everywhere from census forms to celebrity A-lists. The hapa identity is growing fast in academia, the community, and the arts. UC Berkeley hosted the first Hapa Japan Conference this year with a focus on Japanese hapa identity. At Harvard, the third annual SWAYA (So... What Are You Anyway?) conference on mixed-race issues was hosted by Harvard Hapa, one of many active hapa student groups nationwide. A great documentary film entitled One Big Hapa Family was shown on PBS and has been traveling the festival circuit, including the first annual Hapa-Palooza festival in Vancouver.

Kip Fulbeck is arguably the most visible artist in the hapa community. He's especially well known for The Hapa Project, which includes the book Part Asian, 100% Hapa, a traveling photo exhibition, presentations, and online communities. Fulbeck's work has inspired many other artists to explore the hapa identity through photography and other media. This visibility has an important effect: for many, Fulbeck's work is their introduction to the hapa identity and the first step on a path to exploring multiethnic identity.

 

The Hapa Project

Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 6:30pm 

RSVP Required: programs@mocanyc.org

Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)

215 Centre Street, Manhattan

Directions to MOCA