Question:

What do you think of multiracial people and ethnic identity?

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I'm wondering how everyone feels about this. I'm 1/4 Japanese, 1/2 white (Euro mix) and 1/4 mix of what we think is Cherokee and possibly some white but we really don't know. I self-identify as being Japanese, White & Cherokee. Some people say that only being 1/4 Japanese means that somehow I'm not at all or I'm not "REALLY". I was born in the US, however my mom was born in Japan and raised as a child in Taiwan by her Japanese mother and American father, but her father was in the military so she saw much less of him. Then I was raised in Texas, but my father worked a lot and I was raised primarily by my mother at home. I grew up eating sushi, sukiyaki, etc on a daily basis and watching unico, playing with hello kitty, etc. So I didn't have a regular "White American" upbringing. My legal birth name was Melissa, but I have never really gone by that name I always had a nickname and have been going by Miko since I was a young teenager. It comes from my grandmother's name Fumiko. My mother and grandmother are very proud of their Japanese heritage and glad that I am also. Would you say that I am wrong or misrepresenting myself as identifying myself as Miko, the Japanese/White girl? I just have a feeling like a lot of people think so.

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  1. Just remember this:

    It's not the quantity of a particular blood you have flowing through your veins, it's the quality of it!  Your pride in being whatever YOU choose to be. No one else can make that determination for you, it comes from within!!


  2. Hi Miko.  You're struggling with the same identification problems I did when I was younger.  I am of Cherokee Kiowa and Caucasian descent.  i was raised as a Cherokee.  I lived in Cherokee Nation I still eat the same food speak the language follow the traditions.  The elders had even given me a name before my family moved away--Kamama--which means butterfly.

    It was a long journey for me but I know at last who and what I truly am.  I think you already know who you are.  Don't worry about what other's think.  Enjoy yourself as your are.  Learn more about your culture and heritage, learn your language if you havent already; seek spritual guidence from your ancestors and elders.  Keep walking your path and you will find the peace of heart you're looking for.

    Write me anytime.

    Kamama

  3. Girl if you go by and like Miko instead of Melissa that's your personal preference and no your not misrepresenting yourself.

    I think that diversity in our society is a wonderful thing!

  4. who cares what other people think? you know your heritage. you know who you are. you are japanese white and cherokee.  

  5. Who cares? were all mixed anyways....just get over it

  6. I see nothing notable about mixed people

  7. What other people think is meaningless, esp when what they think is just wrong.

    You *are* Japanese and white. What is wrong with that?

    You sound well-adjusted and smart, and have an interesting past. Those are all good things.

  8. Most humans in this world today are multi-cultured. Most of us have different cultures in our blood. You are human.

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