Amerasian

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Amerasian is a term coined by author Pearl S. Buck, and adopted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, for a person fathered abroad by U.S. servicemen to women of Asian nationalities. Thousands of children were born to Asian women during World War II and the Korean War, fathered by both U.S. and non-U.S. servicemen, throughout Asia, including the various islands which dot the Pacific. Currently, several countries have a minority of Amerasians, including the Philippines, Thailand, and most notably South Korea.

1 Definitions
2 Fiction
3 See also
4 Amerasian Organizations
5 External links

[edit] Definitions

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), an Amerasian is

Any person who is 18 or older, an emancipated minor, or a U.S. corporation may file this petition for an alien who was born in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, or Thailand after December 31, 1950, and before October 22, 1982, and was fathered by a U.S. citizen.

-from instructions for INS Form 360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant

As noted above, Amerasian is a term used for a child of a U.S. serviceman in Asia. The term is also commonly applied to half Japanese children fathered by a U.S. serviceman in Japan on the island of Okinawa, as well as half-Korean children fathered by veterans of the Korean War, most notably seen on the 1960s soap opera Love is a Many Splendored Thing. This is also applied to children of Filipinos and American rulers during the U.S. colonial period of the Philippines and children of Thais and U.S. soldiers during World War II and the Vietnam War (the reference to Thailand stems from the U.S. military stationing their military bases during the Vietnam War). Aside from children of American and mainland Chinese parents (mostly born during World War II or in United States), since there are large Overseas Chinese minorities in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, Amerasian can be a child born to American and ethnic Chinese parents in any country outside China. Children born to mainland U.S. and native Pacific Islander parents in U.S.-controlled Pacific Islands are also sometimes considered Amerasian.

Although the term Amerasian denotes mixed ancestry, it should not be interpreted as a fixed racial term relating to a specific mixture of races (such as mestizo, mulatto, eurasian, blasian, etc.) The racial strain of the American portion of one Amerasian may be different to that of another Amerasian, that is it may be White American, Hispanic American or African American, even Asian American etc.

Stereotypes exist that Asian cultures discriminate against half-Asian children based on a concept of "racial purity": however, the reality is hardly so Third Reich, though the reasons may be complicated, nonetheless. During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, many of the unions between American fathers and Asian mothers happened through client-prostitute relationships. Mixed blood children, whatever the reality of the occupations of their parents, inherit this social stigma. In poor countries where impoverished women have little choice but to look at prostitution as a way to survive, the resulting sense of disempowerment among men and women alike can bring seething resentment. Additional resentment may be fueled by the common knowledge that many servicemen fathers make promises to support the children, and simply leave for the U.S., never to be seen again. The idea that all Asian nations promote a collective sense of "racial purity" is a broad and ultimately false image.

At the same time, there may indeed be present concepts of beauty that elevate (consciously or sub-consciously) light complexioned skin over dark--especially in countries that were heavily colonized or recently conquered, like Japan or the Philippines. In this case, darker skinned children of African American fathers may encounter significantly more bullying growing up--though again, one must beware of generalizations. For example, apl.de.ap of the R & B group The Black Eyed Peas is half African American but reports a very positive and supportive childhood in the Philippines.

This official definition of Amerasian came about as a result of Public Law 97-359, enacted by the 97th Congress of the United States on October 22, 1982. Colloquially, it is sometimes considered synonymous with Asian American to describe any person of Asian and American parentage, regardless of the circumstances.

[edit] Fiction

In the M*A*S*H episode "Yessir, That's Our Baby," the staff of the 4077th find an abandoned Amerasian baby and attempted help her after Father Mulcahy warns that she will be mistreated at the orphanage. Although the staff initially decline his advice about leaving her with a reclusive monastic order, their own efforts to solicit aid from various organizations were bluntly rebuffed with frustrating regularity. This included a confrontation with a South Korean representative who pointed out the mortifying fact to the US officers that their own government ignores the issue as well. Eventually, the staff leave the baby with the monks.

The Chuck Norris film Braddock: Missing In Action III (1988) depicted Amerasian children trapped in Vietnam; in the film, Norris is the father to an Amerasian child believing that his Vietnamese wife died during the Fall of Saigon.

In the television show King of the Hill, it is revealed in an episode that the protagonist Hank has an Amerasian half-brother named Junichiro, the result of an affair between Hank's father and a nurse during his stay in post-World War II Japan.

The 2004 film The Beautiful Country is about Amerasian boy who leaves his native Vietnam to find his father (played by Nick Nolte).