Go Back To China Summary

Have you seen the open letter in the New York Times written to a woman who told the author (a New Yorker) and his family to “go back to China”? I’ve been thinking about the topic of racism as it relates specifically to people of Asian ancestry for awhile. I am the white mother of two mixed race babies (my husband is American of Japanese descent). Not too long ago, I was talking about podcasts with a mother of grown children. When she asked what I had been listening to, I told her I had most recently been interested in those podcasts dealing with race. I explained that I thought I was interested in that topic because of its timeliness and because I have two mixed race babies. At that she kind of blew me off and said, “Oh, your kids will be okay. …show more content…
However, there are a few commonly heard themes here: “Chinese” is not a general term for all Asians, and white women can have babies of all races and ethnic backgrounds biologically and otherwise.
“She looks just like my Chinese granddaughter.” – This implies that all Asians look alike. I mean, really, if you are not Asian this is just going to sound racist. So, regardless of whether you really think they look alike you shouldn’t say it.
“I’ve always wanted an Asian baby!” – Ew. It’s like saying, “I’ve always wanted a Great Dane!” or, “I’ve always wanted a Kate Spade!” except that you are talking about a human–not a dog or a purse.
“Mixed babies are the cutest.” – This one I am totally guilty of saying before and after having children. It sounds pretty benign and even complimentary. However, after reading and listening to commentary on race what I’ve learned is that this comment implies the reason mixed children are cute is because they have some white heritage, but they are “cutest” because they also look a little different and