A02: Week 9 - Anneka Christie

"According to some scholars, this emphasis on cultural (rather than phenotypic) criteria appears to characterize changing notions of race and racial difference. However, I argue that claiming Obama as an honorary Asian American and as a local from Hawai‘i inadvertently lends support to the post-racial America thesis and its false assertion of the declining significance of race: in the first case, by reinforcing the ‘model minority’ stereotype of Asian Americans and, in the second, by affirming the widespread view of Hawai‘i as a model of multiculturalism."

This quote is taken from the last section of the introduction of Okamura's "Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America: perspectives from Asian American and Hawaii." It clearly sums up the main point of his paper and prepares the reader for his argument. It stood out to me because it incorporates a lot of information about race, outside perspectives, and his stance on Obama as an Asian American. I honestly have never heard that Obama and/or his supporters considered him Asian American. I do believe he may have a better understanding of Asian Americans and their values/interests due to his upbringing but I also do not think he is Asian American because although he has faced and will face a lot of discrimination and scrutiny, he probably has never experienced the same discrimination and scrutiny of an Asian American. I am not saying that one is worse or more apparent but the experiences are different.

It was interesting to read up about how this proclaimed Asian American identity funnels into support of other racial topics and stereotypes and it opened my eyes to new perspectives. I am not sure how I feel completely about all of these points and they had good support and arguments but I am definitely more curious and would like to do some more follow up research.

Since my Asian side of my family is (in more recent generations) from Hawaii, I would like to dive deeper into the apparently widespread view of Hawai'i as a model of multiculturalism, like what that entails, the pros/cons of this view, and how my family feels about this.

Q: I know that many have seen people of various races but do not give them that full status (positive or negative) without the cultural experience and background as well. Race may be defined as phenotypic labels but commonly also must incorporate living in the culture as well. I understand and agree with the definition of race but does race now so need the cultural background, especially in a time where families and experiences are becoming increasingly mixed?


Sources:
Compton, M. (2012). President Obama Signs the Payroll Tax Cut. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/02/22/president-obama-signs-payroll-tax-cut.

Jonathan Y. Okamura (2016). Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America: perspectives from Asian American and Hawaii