Multiracial Twins

There is a person out there who resembles me. She has given me the best of times and the worst of times. Together with our identical smiles and outlandish twin powers, we can charm the pants off anyone and render their minds haywire. We are a dangerous duo as an army of two. However, we are not double trouble but twice blessed. We have the ultimate soulmate and a best friend forever. Nevertheless, being a twin can be frustrating and obscures my individual identity at times.

In my reflection, paper, I discuss how my identity is shaped by my twin sister, and evidence the layers of influence across time and place. I hope the paper can elucidate the story of twin-hood through my eyes. More importantly, I hope the paper can reflect what I have learned this quarter in class, regardless of the fact that I am a twin. While I may be a twin, I am also one of a kind. I am an individual. Over the past 10 weeks, I have learned a bajillion names for calling multiracial people--mulatto, oreo, banana, etc. I have seen the faces of a bajillion more multiracial people and hear their stories-- Obama, Woods, Ethnic Man, the students in the class, etc. Milking these experiences, I have learned that everyone should be given a chance to self-identity and live their lives in comfort from faulty assumptions.

In a nation where there is a rapidly increasing mixed race population, it comes to no surprise that more and more babies are born to mixed race parents. What are the social implications of their births? How do they add or detract from identity formation in America? Obama provides a model for them. From his 1995 book, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, to his extraordinary talks on race, he has maintained his multiracial identity in the forefront while identifying as black. By doing so, he demonstrates that it is possible to embrace one reality without ignoring another.

Twins Ryan and Leo Gerth were born on July 11, 2008 to their black, Ghanian mom Florence and white dad Stephan in Lichtenberg, Germany. The press is having a field day and the public is showing mass hysteria over such a dichotomy. Although one twin looks more white and one more black, they can have both black and white features and certainly black and white experiences. Skin color is only factor affecting how an individual thinks and behaves.

Marcia and Millie Biggs of Erdington, Birmingham, UK



Alicia and Jasmine Singerl of Burpengary, Australia






Remi and Kian Horder-Hodgson of Nottingham, UK



These twins are deemed "miracles" and media, neighbors, family all obsess over their difference in skin colors. The Daily Telegraph refers to them as “one black and one white.” The paper also voices that “experts say the chance of twins being born with such different physical characteristics is about a million to one.

The fascination with these twins says a lot about the way our society perceives race. We are all very intent on forcing people into neat little categories despite our promise to respect multi-raciality. It is remarkable how much phenotype - especially skin color - can distort our views. People were making it seem as if the twin sisters looked nothing alike when in reality, their features were very similar. It was simply a matter of skin tone. People tend to overlook that the other twin had European facial features as well. Most people simply could not see beyond the child’s dark skin, even though this rests on just a matter of genetic variation.

As a twin, I know how frustrating it can be when people assume differences between my sister and me when such claims are not validated. One twin has to be the evil twin, the other the angel. One twin becomes the more desirable one: taller, prettier, resembling more like the parents. Race and skin color do not have to add to this pot of already vexing experiences for twins. Twins may have different skin tones but they come from the same parents, so there is nothing innately different about them. Lumping racial attributes to twins is simply foolish, just like stereotyping individuals in society as markers of some racial group.

Let's go beyond race and acknowledge that twins are individuals, as are all of us.

The Horder-Dodgson twins' mother, Kylie Hodgson assured London's Daily Mail, "It (the difference in skin colors) doesn't matter to us -- they are just our two gorgeous little girls."

What a wonderful mother.

Boston Accent: A Sign of Authenticity?

Reflection on Megan's presentation: "Language and Identity"

Boston is notorious as a hub of intellectuals and a landmark for historical reflection. We are home to brave men, home to the Patriots and the Red Sox, home to Harvard. Boston's acclaim is even likened to its resemblance to England. Many tourists from England would agree that the similarity between Boston and England is astonishing: everything from the pub menus to the quaint brick housing on Beacon Hill, from the rich history to the modern intellectualism. However, while the British accent is strongly praised for sounding proper and refined, the Boston accent is perceived as obnoxious and vulgar.

I do not blame the criticism... and I consider myself a Bostonian. "Wicked Pissah" and "How ah ya?" just do not float my boat. In a state that is continuously ranked top 10 in America for intelligence, is it possible that state authenticity lies in an accent mirroring mental drain? While some Bostonians are proud of their accents, and it is quite evident, many are not. Most, for sure, do not even display the accent. Even along the very streets of Boston, the detested Bostonian accent is undeniable. Many native Bostonians deem it as uncouth and rustic,

Nevertheless, let's face it, the only thing more cacophonous to the ears than a Boston accent is a bad Boston accent. Next time a person "tries" to be a "true" Bostonian and fails, I would strongly suggest the person just "keep it real" and be himself. Most "true" Bostonian, those who have lived here are are the exemplifications of our pride, do not have the Boston accent. The Boston accent also varies by neighborhood and by ethnicity, hence, diluting its value to mark an individual as a genuine Bostonian. In neighborhoods throughout Boston, the dialects of the North End and East Boston of the city are heavily influenced by Italian immigrants, which creates a speech pattern more like that of New York City. The South Boston accent contains a great Irish population and is closer to the stereotypical Boston accent. All these people are Bostonians, no matter what their speech patterns may be.

I may be bias but Boston is truly a remarkable city. I still walk with pride the historical tourist sites (Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, Freedom Trail, Duck Tour) and make it a point to live like a Bostonian – complete a pub crawl down Union Street, relax in Boston Commons, and enjoy outdoor lunch on Newbury. It is a gorgeous city, small enough to be manageable yet large enough to avoid social humdrum. I am smitten with Boston. I believe it is quite a shame to associate Boston's pride in an accent and dim our shine in being a historical and cultural, intellectual and hard-working heart of America.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I personally find it quite frustrating that so many people associate authenticity to a land as being tied to self-decisive speech patterns (Jean Mills: "Connecting Communities: Identity, Language, and Diaspora"). I want to be seen as a Bostonian but I want to speak proper English. However, according to the survey above, I might as well be comfortable being assumed a Midwesterner. My love for Boston shall not waver in such madness!

Model Minorities

Planning for Reflection Paper

In composing my reflection paper, I dwelled on the topic of Asian Americans being model minorities and how I fit within this myth.

While I feel that I have attained the American Dream in some sense— having gotten into college and about to begin my professional career— I realize that many are not so fortunate. I am proud to be the actualization of a dream but I am guilty of perpetuating a stereotype, “the model minority” stereotype. Half of all Asian Americans are immigrants but all of them on the whole are doing very well socio-economically, when compared to other minority groups. Collectively, they have made remarkable strides in revolutionizing American culture. They positively contribute to American fashion and music, politics and science, as examples. The modern faces of Asian America are Yahoo Founder Jerry Yang and Fashionista Vera Wang, people of talent and affluence. In many respects, Asian Americans have done remarkably well in achieving the “American dream" of attaining a good education, having comfortable careers, and earning a good living.

The image of the "model minority" is a bright, shining example of hard work and patience whose example other minority groups should follow. Many people may even contend that since Asian Americans are doing so well, we cannot possibly be victims of any discrimination or require public services such as bilingual education, government documents in multiple languages, and welfare. These people assume that all Asian Americans are successful and that none of us are struggling. On the exterior, it may sound rather innocuous and even flattering to be described in those terms. However, the reality is much more convoluted. Despite a positive trend in the attitudes toward Asian Americans, racial discrimination and glass ceilings still exist. Numerous studies show that the majority of the general American population cannot make a distinction between the various Asian American ethnic groups, treating all of us as one generic, monolithic group: the model minority.

However, the model minority notion is a myth. Not all Asian Americans are the same. Vietnamese Americans have a college degree attainment rate of only 20%, less than half the rate for other Asian American ethnic groups. The rates for Laotians, Cambodians, and Khmer are even lower at less than 10%. Studies indicate that, as a whole, Asian American families have higher median incomes than White families. However, this data is skewed by the fact that the typical Asian American family tends to have more working, income-earning members than the typical White family. It is not unusual for an Asian American family to have four, five, or more members working. Using a more justifiable statistic, per capita income, results show that Asian Americans still trail Whites on this very important measure. Furthermore, Asian Americans are much more likely to concentrate in metropolitan areas where the cost of living is much higher. Although Asian Americans have come a long way to assert power and influence in American society, they are still significantly underrepresented in positions of political leadership. In the corporate world, Asian Americans are underrepresented as CEOs, board members, and high-level supervisors.

Just because many Asian Americans have "made it," this does not mean that all Asian Americans have made it. Extracted into subgroups of individuals, many Asian Americans are still the targets of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. For instance, the enduring notion that "all Asians are smart" places a great burden on many Asian Americans. Many, particularly Southeast Asians, are not able to conform to this unrealistic expectation, this stereotype threat, and in actuality, have the highest high school dropout rates in the country. Because of this flawed image of achievement, Asian Americans are also increasingly becoming the victims of hate crimes. Recent research shows that Asian Americans are the fastest growing victims of hate crimes in the United States. Although Asian Indians and other successful Asian Americans may have commendable socioeconomic achievement, it is rare that many of them will claim that they no longer experience discrimination because of their Asian ethnicity. The model minority myth does a disservice to Asian Americans, because it suggests they neither need nor can benefit from affirmative action or social justice. As I had illustrated, the glass ceiling exists for this minority group as well. Unfortunately, the model minority myth blinds others to these realities.

Because society's subtle discrimination of Asian Americans has dire consequences, I hope we can all make a consolidated effort to learn not to discriminate or make assumptions about people based on phenotype but look within and learn to embrace all people as individuals. It is VERY important to remember that the model minority notion is a stereotype and like many stereotypes, there is a repetitive and self-perpetuating nature to them. It is NOT true that Asian Americans are more intelligent than other races. It is NOT true that Asian Americans are more successful and less often victims of discrimination. The myth and stereotype does disservice to Asian Americans who are not high achieving but expect to, in what is termed "stereotype threat." It does a disservice to other racial minorities who are told to follow the model set by Asians.

The fact is, Asian Americans are not ruling the world. We do not comprise a great share of CEOs, Nobel Prize winners, representation in Congress. Clearly, we are not such a model minority after all.