What gets me about Hapa is it has no urgency. Whether it may appear optimistic or not, the crucial thing is Hapa doesn't care.
Hapa's central mission is to end racism, which is a noble idea but that doesn't mean that the thinker of a noble idea is noble itself. You can tell me that you masturbate because it is the safest sex, but that doesn't mean you aren't a wanker. Robin Hood was noble and all in his vigilante efforts to implement a folksy "trickle down" economics in medieval times, but he was still a thief.
Rather than being optimistic, I posit that Hapa is actually indifferent.
Read MoreLikewise, for an academic, there is no stature without “pubs” (publications, that is); publish or perish rules the day, it is engraved into the ivory tower. No tenure committee gives a damn at how amazing it is you teach. Of course, teaching evaluations could ruin you if they are horrible; nonetheless, the prevailing hurdle to tenure is number of peer-reviewed publications.
Ultimately, no one wants to hear about racism.
No one wants to hear about the discrimination that you face. No one wants to be lectured on microagressions. People care only about what you can do for them. In the end, the most effective appeals somehow, some way invoke self-interest.
Read More"My daughter's face is 97% Korean" are Jason Calacanis' words. He is the investor/entrepreneur/blogger behind mahalo.com, launch.co and many others.
In a blog post and a series of follow up tweets on race, Jason Calacanis confronts mixed identity head on. Ostensibly talking about gender roles, and Silicon Valley social inclusion, he abruptly goes headlong into race:
"Now, there’s some truth to me not being able to speak about race. I haven’t experienced racism myself, except when standing next to my wife (who is Asian). I had no idea people were as racist toward Asians as they are — but they are. That makes me sad for my mixed-race daughter, who looks 97% Korean and 3% Irish — let alone Greek or Swedish (sorry, Dad).
But she’s going to live in the post-race world we’re shifting to. Her kids will probably share six or seven heritages — enough so that no one will matter. And that’s awesome."
Read MoreSure, most people don’t think that by naming 5 ethnicities they have claims to 5 different club memberships. But then again some people are that vain. The warming notion that there is something hip about being a child of the world, by being born into this world love of multi-ethnicities, well, I guess people decide, shucks “it’s kinda cool; I’ll just play along.”
Read MoreI was browsing the WSJ, on its very capable iOS app, and came across the headline: “Why I Can’t Just Become Chinese” by Eric Liu. A headline like that jumps out at you, especially if you are writing an upcoming book on Chinese and Western culture as I am. So, naturally I clicked on it.
I didn’t know what to expect, really, but I think Mr. Liu gets it wrong. I think he gets both China and the U.S. wrong.
Read MoreThinking about Ta-Nehisi Coates' words: " Indeed, the lack of "purity" is parcel to the injury."
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