We need to talk about the Wasian Meetup
Credits to madsteaparty on TikTok
So if you haven’t been in on the loop, apparently an online organization originally by the name of halfasiaspring on Instagram (they've swiftly rebranded to citizensofwasia) hosted a wasian meetup in NYC, with plans to host the similar events in LA, Seattle, etc. However, despite the group's original branding as half-Asian, online commentators were quick to point out that the page's uplifting/posting of mainly/only wasians, with no effort to include Blasians/Latinasians/Nativasians resulted in a convention that pretty much ended up centering whiteness... on AAPI month no less!
The viral video embedded in the post is by artist Jonathan Tsai, who very succinctly lays out how wasians are not the only minority to feel out of place or rejected by their communities yet this sympathy is not extended to our Blasian/Latinasian/Nativasian siblings. He also cites journalist Aki Lee Camargo's substack article, which identifies how ultimately, the wasian identity isn't really rooted in a shared culture, but rather an aesthetic. He also points out that political labels like Asian-American differ from a label like wasian since the former "...were identities built in opposition to something. Wasian is built in proximity to something. Specifically, whiteness."
Another article that I think is imperative to read regarding this situation is NYC’s “Wasian Wonderland” Shows How Mixed-Race Hype Still Centers Whiteness by Kahlil Greene, which I feel goes incredibly into depth into the history of how white supremacy (and subsequently eugenics) was incorporated into racial mixing, with mentions of the implementation of blanqueamiento in the mestizaje space, and the paper bag test as a form of exclusion for Black Americans. I feel that the point Greene was trying to make with his article was that this surge in wasian fetishization is operating under the same principles that drove the creation of blanqueamiento and the paper bag test, and thus as a result, we should be more critical of what this means and what underlying biases are being affirmed in this wave of wasian.
As a wasian person, I really think more of us (especially those of us who are mixed with East Asian!) should be having conversations not just with one another, but the wider Asian community, both monoracial and mixed, acknowledging how much we benefit from white supremacy (and the entailing colorism/featurism), how that privilege is used to designate us as acceptable racial tokens (we're non-white enough that we can check off diversity quotas, yet not too non-white that we would be making white people uncomfortable), and how the elevation of our whiteness feeds into the discrimination and alienation of the Blasian/Latinasian/Nativasian parts of our community. To be clear, I'm not saying we aren't Asian enough or that we need to self-flagellate ourselves to atone, but I do think we need to confront this topic because in my experience, there are elements of white fragility that seeps through and makes us want to push back on having this conversation.
I do want to open this conversation to other BIPOC, mixed or not, to discuss the ways in how we can hold dialogues regarding issues like these in order to best combat them and figured this would be a good space to do so. Much love, xoxo, and a safe and happy AAPI month to all.