Tuesday Nitpicking: Mixed Race People and the Language of Fractions

By Deputy Editor Thea Lim

The other day I was having a drink with a friend, when he began describing a woman he was interested in. “She’s half Japanese,” he said. “Half Japanese?” I said, “She doesn’t have another half?”
At this point my friends have gotten used to my annoying linguistic nitpicking, the subtle (and [...]

¶ Posted September 22, 2009 § Outside the Binary, language, mixed race ‡ Comments (108)

Questions and Answers

by Guest Contributor Neesha Meminger

A couple of weeks ago I had the Toronto launch of my novel, Shine, Coconut Moon. I prepared myself in the usual way, going over what I would read, how I would introduce myself and the book to the guests, and anticipating audience questions during the Q&A. This Q&A, however, threw [...]

¶ Posted April 30, 2009 § Outside the Binary, identity, race relations, racism, religion, south asian ‡ Comments (22)

Look Twice

by Guest Contributor Joseph Shahadi, also published at VSthePomegranate
A few months ago, I got into a fistfight on the subway.
I was coming home from work and it was packed. There was this gawky twelve year old kid standing nearby. I’d noticed him earlier in the ride clowning around with a friend: Skinny kid, all fingers [...]

¶ Posted March 19, 2009 § Outside the Binary, culture, race, race relations, racism ‡ Comments (137)

Sundance Interview: Cherien Dabis, Director of Amreeka

by Guest Contributor Melissa Silverstein, orginally published at Women and Hollywood
Cherien Dabis is having one of those dreamlike weeks. She was named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2009, and her film Amreeka had its world premiere at Sundance this past weekend to a standing ovation and positive reviews. Now all [...]

¶ Posted January 29, 2009 § Israel/Palestine, Outside the Binary, community, ethnicity, film, gender, identity, immigration, movies, race ‡ Comments (5)

Gran Torino and Hmong Gangs in the Midwest

by Guest Contributor Joanna Eng

In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays a bitter old man who’s basically the only white person left in a run-down neighborhood somewhere in the Midwest. He (reluctantly, at first) gets to know his Hmong neighbors, and ends up getting intricately involved in their lives, as they deal with issues caused by [...]

¶ Posted December 22, 2008 § Outside the Binary, asian, asian-american, culture, diversity, ethnicity, film, hollywood, identity, media, movies, race, race relations, racism, stereotypes, violence ‡ Comments (74)

Aspiring to whiteness

by Guest Contributor Tanglad, originally published at Tanglad
As we celebrated the eve of November 4th, I was struck by a comment from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He pointed out with pride the role of the Latino vote in Obama’s election. I wish I could say that about my fellow Filipinos.
And yes, I know, the [...]

¶ Posted December 10, 2008 § Outside the Binary, The Things We Do to Each Other, colonization/colonialism, identity, race, race relations, racism, stereotypes ‡ Comments (53)

“Why are you trying to be black when you’re red?”

by Guest Contributor Jessica Yee

The whole “acting black” label isn’t an unheard one in really any community these days, but I’ve always thought it was an interesting one to hear in my own community, from my own people.
Let me give it to you straight and say I already know how much we have in common; [...]

¶ Posted September 16, 2008 § Outside the Binary, american indian/native american/first nations, identity, indigenous peoples, race, stereotypes ‡ Comments (29)