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Comment by anthuman | Hacker News Reader

If you claim that she is all japanese, then aren't you denying her african-american roots?

She is half japanese because half of her family and genetic history is from japan. The other half is from her african american father. Isn't it more bigoted to deny that half of her comes from her african american father?

Also, there is a difference between ethnicity and nationality. She may be a full japanese national, but she is not a full ethnic japanese.

Just like charlize theron could be a south african national, but you wouldn't call her a black woman.

I agree with her that being a japanese national should have nothing to do with heredity or skin color, but heredity and skin color most definitely has something to do with the japanese ethnicity.

To claim otherwise is to claim there is no suching thing as a japanese ethnicity and it destroys any sense of human diversity that we all pretend to love while trying to actively destroy human diversity.

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> heredity and skin color most definitely has something to do with the japanese ethnicity.

Only to racists. Just as being Jewish is an ethnicity (as well as a religion), you don't have to be white or have Jewish parents to be of Jewish ethnicity.

More and more Japanese Nationals with mixed race are born all the time, and raised completely in Japan and only speak Japanese, yet would "pass as white."

And when they're famous and appear in the media, they are considered by most of the Japanese audience to be ethnically Japanese.

On the other hand, there are quite a few Japanese-Americans whose parents are both racially "100%" Japanese, yet because they speak awful or nonexistent Japanese and or "act American" or "have American values", are not considered to be ethnically Japanese.

I've included a definition of racism here for you: "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior".

Given that there is no prejudice or antagonism present, your accusation of racism is nonsense. In fact you're doing something as equally poisonous as racists, except in reverse: pretending that there is no race, no ethnicity. Erasing the heritage of people with a sponge in order to depict a so-called utopia that nobody except extremists wants.

> If you claim that she is all japanese, then aren't you denying her african-american roots?

I don't think so. I'm American, "all" American. I was born here and have lived almost my entire 29 years of life here. But I am also half-Korean.

I think it depends on whether OP meant Japanese as a citizen or Japanese as their sole ethnic background.

American is a nationality, it is not an ethnicity. There is no "ethnic american" due to historic reason.

You are half-korean, so what is your other half? White? So you are half korean and half white.

You wouldn't say you are 100% korean and 100% white. That would be ridiculous right? Your ethnic history and composition can't add up to 200%. Even if you claimed to be 100% korean or 100% white, neither white nor korean people would consider you to be 100% white or korean.

That's my point. There is nationality and ethnicity. Those are two different things. A chinese person could move to germany and become a german citizen or national. But nobody would consider him an ethnic german.

> There is nationality and ethnicity. Those are two different things.

Thank you! This whole top-level comment thread is just conflating the two.

Yup, there are 4 combinations in total. For example, a white American will see:

1. Someone of different nationality (eg: a white Australian)

2. Someone of different ethnicity (eg: a Black American)

3. Someone of both different nationality and ethnicity (eg: a fresh off the boat immigrant from India)

4. Someone of same nationality and ethnicity (i.e., fellow white Americans).

Now one may, in principle at least, accept that all these categories of people should be treated with impartiality and respect in every sphere of life ... however can they also sincerely report not feeling these identities as separate? I think this is what anthuman is getting at.

The conflation that is happening in this thread is between culture and ethnicity not nationality and ethnicity. When someone of mixed race says they are "all Japanese" they are obviously talking about their culture and not their passport.

Culture is tied to nationality. Do you have an example indicating the contrary?

Of course. Nation states have not been round that long. Just a few hundred years.

Jewish culture exists throughout the world. All religious cultures actually. Islamic culture.

Immigrants often retain many aspects of their culture when they move to a new country.

The US itself is a huge mismash of different cultures. People in the US are not bound by a single cultural identity. They are bound by the constitution and the principles and values it represents.

By the same token, Japanese is also a nationality as well as ethnicity. This is what it would mean, in context, for her to say she's all Japanese.

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