Blasian Singers in Asia

I was recently reflecting on a trip to Shanghai and remembered the story of Lou Jing, the black-Chinese young woman who appeared on a talent show in China in 2009. Her appearance on a popular Chinese television show was a subject of much debate. Jing appeared on "Go! Oriental Angel" for 2 months, and though the show nicknamed her "Chocolate Angel" and "Black Pearl", she and her mother received constant negative criticism.

Jing's Chinese mother had a relationship with an African American man, to whom she was not married. Lou Jing has never met her father. Raised in Shanghai, she is fluent in Mandarin and Shanghainese and identifies as Shanghainese. After receiving hurtful comments online following her television appearances, she questions her place in China. One post read, "Ugh. Yellow people and black people mixed together is very gross."

Lou Jing and her mother

This situation shows how far behind China is in moving beyond its monocultural ideal image of itself. As China emerges as a world power, it is vital that its people open up their minds to the multicultural contexts that exist in other countries and that is also slowly becoming a reality in China. The lack of awareness in the comments directed toward Lou Jing clearly demonstrates the long way that China has to go to better interact and understand the diversity beyond its borders.

While China is struggling to deal with this mixed race person in their midst, neighboring countries, Japan and Korea, have already been coping with public figures with black ancestry for some time now. A very popular singer in Japan right now, who happens to be blasian, is Crystal Kay. She's actually black and Korean, like Yoon Mirae (Tasha Reid), who is successful in Korea. While it's not easy being biracial - especially half black - in Asia, it used to be a lot more difficult. In Korea, Insooni helped pave the way.

Yoon Mirae

Crystal Kay

Born to an African American father and Korean mother in 1957, Kim Insoon was born soon after the Korean War. In the 1960s, multiracial Koreans were an extremely new phenomenon and suffered extreme discrimination. Insooni began performing in the late 1970s, receiving more attention for her appearance than her talent. She has now been making music for over 30 years.

Insooni is a musical legend in Korea, and the difficult situations she experienced as a biracial person in a monoracial country served her well. Mixed race Koreans have become much more common, but Insooni's childhood must have been indescribably tough. Compared to being black in Korea, the trying times and insensitive criticism of the entertainment world surely seemed simple to endure.

Kim Insoon at 15 years old (1972)

Insooni's success has made the possibility of a career in the public sphere a realistic goal in Korea and serves as an excellent example across East Asia. She's a hero for blasians across the ocean too.

INSOONI

  
Selected Sources: 
* NPR, "Mixed-Race TV Contestant Ignites Debate in China", November 11, 2009.
* CNN World, "TV talent show exposes China's race issue", December 21, 2009. 
* Connections (Pearl S. Buck International newsletter), "Coming Full Circle With Korean Singer Insooni and Daughter Jasmine", Fall/Winter 2011.

Blasian Chart Toppers in the US

For the longest time, as far as I knew, there had never been a blasian American singer – until Amerie came out in the early 2000s.  When I found out she was Korean-African American, I decided to support her before I even heard her music.  It was such a novelty to purchase the music of someone who had the same parentage as me.

Amerie & her mother

Amerie's name tattoo in Korean

Born to an African American father (Charles Rogers) and a Korean mother (Mi Suk), Amerie's first language was Korean, and she lived in South Korea for 3 years as a child.

Amerie's debut album was released in 2002, and her debut single, "Why Don't We Fall in Love" peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

There have been a few other blasian singers since Amerie, but had there been incognito blasians recording in the US before Amerie hit the music scene wearing her ethnicity on her sleeve?  Then I discovered Sugar Pie DeSanto – the 1st blasian chart topper.

Sugar Pie DeSanto was born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton.  She is the daughter of an African American mother and a Filipino father.  As a child, she spoke English and Tagalog and still speaks a little Tagalog with family.

In 1960, DeSanto's single "I Want to Know" reached #4 on Billboard's R&B chart.  This was her biggest hit and her highest charting hit.

A blasian hit singer over 50 years ago.  Who knew?

Selected Sources:
* Intermix.org.uk: A website for the benefit of mixed-race families and individuals, "Amerie's Happy to Talk About Ethnicity", September 1, 2008.
* San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Gimme a Little Sugar", March 12, 2003.

Korean Basketball League Ethnic Draft

As we experience the excitement of Jeremy Lin and his meteoric rise in the NBA, I reflected on the limitations of racial diversity in Korea, my mother's homeland.  It's always been a reality to me that my opportunities in Korea would be limited due to my biracial status.  Koreans revere the idea of their country being monoethnic.  However, the Korean War (1950-1953) threatened the country's homogenous status.  Since then, there have been mixed race Koreans in Korea and around the world.

Three years ago, a professional sports association in Korea initiated an action to incorporate biracial Koreans for the first time.  The Korean Basketball League held an "Ethnic" draft.  The 10 professional basketball teams in Korea agreed to allow foreign players with a Korean parent to play in the Korean Basketball Leagues as signed players.  What's more, the draft allowed these foreign players with Korean ties to not be considered "foreign players".  (There is a limit of 1 foreign player per team.)  While it was not without controversy, the draft was a huge step toward the acceptance of diversity in Korea.

The inaugural KBL draft for "ethnic Korean players" was held in February of 2009.  To be defined as "ethnic Korean", the player had to verify that his biological father or mother had previously held Korean citizenship and had since gained foreign citizenship.  A copy of the Korean parent's family register document or Korean passport had to be presented.  

Players selected in the 1st "ethnic Korean" draft

In the 2009 “Ethnic” draft, 5 players were selected ― Tony Akins (전태풍 / KCC Egis), Eric Sandrin (이승준 / Samsung Thunders), Greg Stevenson (문태영 / LG Sakers), Kevin Mitchell (원하준 / KT&G Kites), and Chris Vann (박태양 / KT Sonic Boom) ― and 4 of them were blasian.  The draft was held again in 2010 and 2011.  In 2010, only 1 player was selected ― Jarod Stevenson (문태종 / ET Land Elephants), Greg Stevenson's older brother.  No players were selected in 2011.

Here's the rub.  The KBL implemented a limit of 3 years on 1 team for ethnic Koreans.  So, the players that were signed in the 2009 "ethnic Korean" draft are now required to participate in the 2012 draft.  The native Korean players are not subject to this rule.  Different signing rules apply to ethnic versus native Korean players.  The rule was designed to balance the teams and prevent a monopoly on ethnic Koreans, who are often better than the Korean players.  The idea is that having the ethnic Korean players continue on long-term with a single team could give too much of an advantage to one club.  

Greg & Jarod Stevenson

Note that, when an ethnic Korean player is drafted, he has to become a Korean citizen.  To sweeten the pot, the Nationality Act was revised in January of 2011 to allow foreigners with "outstanding talents" wishing to acquire Korean citizenship to maintain dual citizenship.  Subsequently, the Korean Basketball League and the Korean Olympic committee have recommended that the government allow ethnic Koreans to play for the Korean national team.

While the KBL benefits from the skills of ethnic Koreans, the association has also been accused of discriminating against ethnic Koreans.  The status of ethnic Koreans has been a point of contention since the initiation of the ethnic draft.  If ethnic Koreans are also Korean citizens and are not considered "foreign players", why do different rules apply?  Such regulations single out ethnic Koreans and defeat the concept of equal access to the League.

The 2012 KBL Pre-Draft Tryout and draft for "Ethnic Korean Players" will be held on May 7, 2012 in South Korea.  Basketball players who are interested in becoming eligible to play in the KBL must apply by April 25, 2012 (Korea Time).  More information is available on the Korean Basketball League website.

Selected Sources:
* Korean Basketball League, "Rules & Procedures".
* The Korea Times, "KBL Accused of Discrimination", January 9, 2012.
* The Korea Herald, "Half Korean Brothers Get Citizenship", July 21, 2011.
* HalfKorean.com: An online community for mixed-race Koreans, "KBL Ethnic Draft Feature".

Asians & Football

After spending some time thinking about Asians in the game of basketball in the US, I thought – what about football?  It can be stated that – just as there are very few players of Asian descent who have played the game of basketball – the same can be said of professional football.  In fact, most would assume there are no Asian football players.  While the game of baseball is popular in Asia, and it's not unusual for players from China or Japan to play Major League Baseball, football remains an extremely American game, and Asian football players remain few and far between.

Dayton Triangles - 1920s

The 1st Asian professional football player was Walter Achiu, of Chinese and Hawaiian ancestry.  He was one of the first minorities to play in any major American professional sports league.  He played pro football for the now defunct Dayton Triangles in 1927 – 20 years before Jackie Robinson's debut in Major League Baseball in 1947!

Roman Gabriel

After Achiu, Roman Gabriel (half Filipino/half Irish) was drafted in 1962.  He was the 1st Asian American to start as an NFL quarterback.  Then there wasn't another Asian football player until Eugene Yon Chong (Korean) was drafted in 1992.

The majority of professional football players of Asian descent have been of mixed heritage, and surprise, surprise, most of them were blasian.  There have been  9 blasian pro football players, including 2 sets of brothers.

Hines Ward

The most well-known blasian football player is Hines Ward.  Born in Seoul, South Korea to an African American father and Korean mother, Young He Kim (김영희).  Ward was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1998.  He gained worldwide fame when he was named MVP in Super Bowl XL (2006), becoming the 1st Korean American and 2nd foreign born player to earn the award.

For the first time since he left the country as a 1-year-old, Ward returned to South Korea in 2006.  He traveled the country, speaking out against biracial discrimination.  In order to support reform regarding multiracial Korean children, he created the Hines Ward Helping Hands Korea Foundation.

In 2009, President Barack Obama established the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to improve the health, education, and economic status of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.  Ward was appointed as a member of the Commission.

After 14 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ward retired from the NFL in March 2012.  A 4-time Pro Bowl selection, Ward finished his Steelers career with 1,000 catches, 12,083 yards, and 85 receiving touchdowns.  He helped Pittsburgh to 3 AFC championships and 2 Super Bowl wins.

Johnnie James Morton, Jr. and Chad Akio Morton are the sons of Johnnie Sr. (African American) and Katsuko (Japanese).

Johnnie Morton

Johnnie was selected by the Detroit Lions in the 1994 NFL Draft and played for the team until 2001.  He went on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2002 to 2004 and ended his football career with the San Francisco 49ers in 2005.  

Chad played for the New Orleans Saints in 2000, the New York Jets from 2001 to 2002, the Washington Redskins from 2003 to 2004, and the New York Giants from 2005 to 2006.  He was released by the Giants in 2007.

Wesly Mallard

Wesly Mallard is half Korean and half African American.
As a child, he attended Seoul American High School in Seoul, South Korea.
Mallard was drafted by the New York Giants in 2002 and remained with the team until 2004.  He played for the New England Patriots in 2005, Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005 to 2006, Denver Broncos in 2007, and Seattle Seahawks in 2008.

Will Demps

Will and Marcus Demps are the sons of William Sr. (African American) and Kye (Korean).

Will was signed by the Baltimore Ravens in 2002 and played for the team until 2005.  He went on to the New York Giants in 2006 and played for the Houston Texans from 2007 to 2008.

Marcus was signed by the Detroit Lions in May 2006 but was released with a knee injury in September of the same year.

Patrick Chung

Patrick Chung was born to a Chinese-Jamaican father and an Afro-Jamaican mother.  He is of 1/4 Han Chinese ancestry.  Chung was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2009.

Marcus Freeman

Marcus Freeman, a Korean-African American, was drafted in the 2009 draft by the Chicago Bears.  He was waived on September 4.  Freeman was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad on September 22.  He was released in October.  On November 4, he signed with the Houston Texans.  Freeman retired due to an enlarged heart condition in May 2010.  He is now a quality control assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Emmanuel Moody

Emmanuel Moody's is the son of an African American father and a Korean mother, Young Sun Chang.  In July 2011, Moody signed with the Buffalo Bills.  He was released in August.




UPDATED
Thursday, March 22, 2012

Asians & Basketball

"I feel like Asians in general don't get the respect that we may deserve whether it comes to sports, basketball, or whatever it might be." – Jeremy Shu-How Lin

As the sports world marvels at the standout performance on the basketball court of Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, I wondered if there had been players of Asian descent hidden within the ranks of the NBA, specifically blasians, who would easily blend into the predominantly African American sports league. There is no doubt that Lin very likely experienced racial profiling. An Asian in the NBA is a rare find, and stereotypes about athletic prowess based on race do flourish in the testosterone-filled world of sports, but what about half-Asian players? They were probably able to move beyond those limitations by fitting into the monoracial ideals held in sports and acquire a career in the NBA.

Wataru Misaka

Wataru Misaka (Japanese) became both the 1st Asian and the 1st non-Caucasian person to play for the Basketball Association of America (now known as the National Basketball Association), when he played for the New York Knicks during the 1947–48 season.  Misaka broke the color barrier in basketball as Jackie Robinson was doing the same in baseball.  After Misaka was cut in 1948, there wasn't another Asian player until 2 blasian players came along in the 1970s and 1980s – Corey Gaines and Raymond Townsend.

Corey Gaines

Corey Yasuto (泰斗) Gaines was born to a half-Japanese mother and an African American father. In 5 seasons, he played for 4 different NBA – the New Jersey Nets (1988–89), Philadelphia 76ers (1989–90, 1994–95), Denver Nuggets (1990–91), and New York Knicks (1993–94). Gaines also played basketball in Israel and Europe, as well as for the Japanese Basketball League's Japan Energy (1997–98). He became the head coach of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury in 2007 and led the team to their second WNBA championship. He has been the general manager of the Mercury since 2011. When discussing the Mercury's raising funds for victims of the 2010 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Gaines said, "I've been connected with Japan since 1997. That was the first time I went to Japan to play.... I stayed at a Japanese house with a host family in Tokyo. I didn't speak Japanese. They didn't speak English. I was young, but I kept going to Japan ever since."

Raymond Townsend

Raymond Townsend's mother was the former Virginia Marella, a Filipina from Balayan, Batangas, while his father, Ray Sr., was African American. He was selected in the 1978 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. He retired from the NBA in 1982 as a member of the Indiana Pacers. He was the first Filipino-American to play in the NBA. He also played in Italy during the 1984–85 season. In 2008, Townsend returned to NBA courts as a packager of Filipino heritage events.  He was honored as the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for the Pilipino Alumni Association of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).

In a January 2011 Wall Street Journal article, Raymond Townsend is quoted as saying, "When I played, people thought I was just one of the lighter-skinned NBA players with an Afro. No one knew I was Filipino." 

There's my answer.

Selected Sources:
* Palo Alto Online, "First Person: A Conversation with Jeremy Lin", December 15, 2011.
* The Arizona Republic, "Phoenix Mercury's Corey Gaines proves to be player's coach", May 23, 2011.
* The Wall Street Journal, "NBA Game Promises to Be a Turkey? Call In the Turks - or the Filipinos", January 19, 2011.

First Blasian on TV

Alisa Gyse is a bit of a hero to me. She was Kinu Owens on the 1990s television series, A Different World. In 8 episodes between 1990 and 1993, Alisa was the Japanese-African American love interest of Dwayne Wayne. As a Korean-African American, seeing someone of Afro-Asian ethnicity on TV was amazing. She was the first half-black half-Asian character I had ever seen. It was thrilling to see someone similar to myself portrayed in such a popular vehicle.

A Different World, Episode: "Everything Must Change" (1990)

Kinu's blend of Asian and black features and identity pervaded her presence on the show. It went beyond her physical characteristics and made its way into the way she dressed, talked, and even cooked. She had a Japanese name, spoke the Japanese language, and prepared Japanese meals. Yet, she was still an African American character on an African American show. I could relate.

In 1990, Alisa backed up Sammy Cahn ― legendary lyricist, songwriter, and musician ― in a live performance piece. In an interview promoting the show, she noted that she had been to Japan three times. She said, "When I was going to Japan, I wondered what my relatives would think of me." "I'm half Japanese and half black, and the Japanese can be a very purist society. I wondered if they'd be old and traditional. They were the most wonderful, hospitable people. I got closer to them in a shorter amount of time than to some of my relatives I've known for years."

Alisa also acknowledged her luck in earning her first acting role in A Different World. "They were looking for someone who is black and Japanese!" she said.

Soloist in Sammy Cahn's "Words & Music" (1990)

Of her experience in Cahn's show, Alisa said, "I think Americans are ready and willing to be entertained by any race. Here I am, the only black person in the Sammy Cahn show, singing songs that are not from my heritage, but I love the songs, and I'm sure people enjoy my performance, and it has nothing to do with my being black or Japanese - or purple!"

Here are a few screenshots from Alisa Gyse's time as Kinu Owens on A Different World.

Selected Sources:

* Chicago Tribune, "On with the Show", December 3, 1990.

* Internet Movie Database, "Alisa Gyse-Dickens".

Why a Blasian Blog?

The term "Blasian" refers to a person of mixed Black and Asian (specifically East or Southeast Asian) ancestry.

I always knew I was different. Growing up biracial in the American South, I knew no one else with parents who were not of the same race (other than my sister). As I got older, I did meet other mixed race people, but not until college did I meet someone like me – of black and Asian ancestry.

For the longest time, I felt extremely unique, which was not necessarily a good thing. I became used to being singled out and often felt alone. There were no role models for me. I rarely saw anyone who looked anything like me. There was no one like me.

Humans have an inherent desire to be a part of a group. Where was mine? It seems as though I have always been searching for people like me. This blog is a manifestation of that. This will be a forum in which I can share my discoveries of noteworthy blasians with other blasians, parents of blasian children, those in black/Asian relationships, and anyone else who may be interested in blasians, their impacts, and their experiences. With this blog, I will attempt to define what it is to be blasian. This blog will serve as a narrative of the blasian existence.