green--street asked:
What I mean by "Many of us aren't allowed to self-identify when asked what we are" is that people will ask us what they are because, for whatever reason, they just Must Know. Except, when we give them our answer (i.e. American/Filipino-Am/Asian-Am), we are then told by the person asking, "No, you're Asian[ only!]/Filipino/whatever, not American." We are NOT allowe to self-identify. Our racial identity is ascribed to us, full stop.
What I mean by "Many of us aren't allowed to self-identify when asked what we are" is that people will ask us what they are because, for whatever reason, they just Must Know. Except, when we give them our answer (i.e. American/Filipino-Am/Asian-Am), we are then told by the person asking, "No, you're Asian[ only!]/Filipino/whatever, not American." We are NOT allowe to self-identify. Our racial identity is ascribed to us, full stop.
i have heard of a lot of mixed people complain that others try to kind of decide for them what ethnicity they are, as if they know better. personally, i don’t think this is the case for everyone, but it is a very valid point.
