More Multi-Culti Statues, "Blackwomanface", "Yellowface", And More

Having written about the Hollywood/LaBrea statues last week, I feel like I'm on a roll. So, allow me to introduce a few more of my favorite likenesses in bronze--or whatever they're made of.

This summer, I was hanging out at my old stompin' grounds of Waikiki where one of the world's most intriguing Hip Hapa Homeez once lived. When I first moved to Honolulu in 1994, I found an apartment on Ka'iulani Avenue. Stupidly, I had no clue about the wonderful woman for whom the street was named. But that changed fast as I studied Hawai'ian language at Iolani Palace, and read everything I could find about the history of the royal family.

Today, Princess Ka'iulani claims ownership of her own triangular-shaped park on Kuhio Boulevard. Since all the shots I took of her statue remain on my vid cam, I've posted someone else's rendition of her that I saw displayed in a shop window, below.

Born to Princess Likelike, Ka'iulani was an intelligent child filled with grace. Her father, a Scotch businessman named Archibald Cleghorn, sent her abroad to be educated after her mother died when she was just 12. While Ka'iulani was gone, her aunt Lilio'kalani was deposed as Queen and Hawai'i was annexed by the U.S. Next in line for the throne, Ka'iulani travelled to America to beseech President Cleveland to restore her Kingdom, but her words were lost on Congress. Back home, Ka'iulani suffered greatly from the loss of her country and her crown, and fell ill. A beautiful woman who loved beauty, she kept peacocks as pets. It's said that at the exact moment when she died (at age 23), her peacocks screamed ceaselessly.

Another, more popular, figure in Hawai'ian culture is Duke Kahanamoku. Still, not a lot of people know that he was responsible for introducing surfing outside of Hawai'i in the 1920's. Contrary to popular belief, surfing did not start in Malibu, but was a sport many Native Hawai'ians enjoyed until, in 1821, European missionaries banned it--in Hawai'i!

A statue of Duke--the "original beach boy"--stands today on Waikiki Beach where tourists and locals alike often adorn it with long leis. A gold-medal Olympic swimming champion, the brown-skinned Duke often encountered racism on his many travels around the globe. Yet, he always remained stoically dignified even when he was shoved into stereotyped roles in Hollywood movies. A restaurant bearing Duke's name is located near his statue and, not surprisingly--at least up until 2003--I never saw anyone not Caucasian working there.

This week, I received an email from Jesse B who read my article about "yellowface" that was published many moons ago. Upset that a TV animation series, The Last Airbender, based on mostly Asian characters was being made with only Caucasian actors, she contacted me for my opinion.

Coincidentally, over the weekend, I watched the movie Norbit with my mom and her husband. While I was aware that a lot of BBB's (big, black, beautiful) sistahs were upset with the film because of Eddie Murphy's portrayal of a stereotyped overweight, angry, black woman--"blackwomanface", if you will--I was also astounded by his nerve to perform in "yellowface". If you've never seen this flick, don't. But if for some unfathomable reason you have, you must've felt like I did. First of all, Eddie don't ever try to do an "Asian" accent again. I don't know why your character had to be Chinese, but trust me, no one hailing from any existing East Asian country speaks like your Mr. Wong. If for no other reason than because of how African Americans suffered in the past by white actors playing "blackface", you should've displayed some sensitivity towards "yellowface". For shame, Eddie! But, then again, $159 million worldwide box office probably expunged you of any such feelings of disgrace.

Back to Jesse B and her distress over the upcoming film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Since I'm not familiar with the TV show's characters, writers, or the soon-to-be-made movie, all I can say is that the only South Asian I've ever seen in a Shyamalan studio release has been him. Why is that, I wonder? I know Shyamalan probably thinks he's doing a Hitchcock number by walking onto his set and even giving himself some speaking lines. But aren't there any other actors of color who could play roles in his movies? It's the same question I want to ask another Indian American filmmaker who recently made a short with an all-white cast. Is this the film you wanted to make, or did you feel you had to make it like that because of how Hollywood continues to perpetuate racist stereotypes? Does the term self-hating come into play here, or is it all about the benjamins? Any comments, folks?

Meanwhile, things are cookin' over at Facebook. If you're there, please join our group, Hip Hapa Homeez. And, remember our Hapa*Teez t-shirts and Watermelon Sushi film, too.

http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

http://www.watermelonsushi.com

Until next time, I promise to always be...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Interracial Cartoon Family And Why We Don't Look Like Countries Anymore

I never dreamed of the day when a syndicated cartoon would feature an interracial family. Since I'm not a regular reader of newspaper comics, I have no idea how long the strip called Jump Start written by Robb Armstrong has been in effect, nor how long it's featured an interracial family. Last week, as I was scanning the Sunday comic page and spotted it, I did a double-take. I didn't dupe the cartoon here because, unlike other folks, I do respect copyright laws. I did check out the artist's site, but the cartoon that ran in my local paper wasn't posted there. Instead, there were some with longer panels.

Anyway, in the four panel piece that I read, a little boy (sort of a beige-ish color) asks his burly, brown-skinned and obviously Negroid-featured father, "Dad, am I black or white?" His father replies, "CJ, your heritage is rich. My side of our family is Jamaican, Cherokee and Nigerian. Your mom is Italian, Irish, and German." The father says this last part while hugging his red-headed, very light beige-ish wife. The boy then asks, "Which one is our favorite?"

In looking over the list of nationalities the father mentioned, I realized that they aren't necessarily races or ethnic groups in of themselves. For instance, one could be born "German", but be of African ancestry because a parent migrated from Ghana. In other words, stating that one is "German" is similar to stating that one is "American". Is everyone in America Anglo? Is everyone in Germany?

It got me thinking about what, exactly, people mean when they tell me I look Brazilian, Cuban or Hawai'ian. When I recently watched Antonia, a Brazilian film about four singing girls of various hues and combos of local Indian, Portuguese and ancestors of African slaves, it struck me how many possibly different looks a Brazilian could possess. When people tell me I look Hawai'ian, do they mean I could pass for a Native like Princess LikeLike, or are they referring to one of the many mixes of hapa Asians or hapa haoles that now inhabit the islands of Hawai'i? What about when they ask me if I'm Cuban? Are they referring to the descendants of African slaves, Spanish invaders, or perhaps Taino or Arawak Indians, or all of the above?

It gets pretty complicated. As more people migrate worldwide, it will no longer be correct to tell someone that they look like a country. We will either need to be more specific, or else forget about racial designations altogether.

I have a Kenyan friend who is Kamba. She tells me that she can easily tell the differences among the main ethnicities--Kikuyu, Luhya and Luo-- even though to us outsiders they all look Kenyan, or African to those less learned. I have another friend who is the stereotyped red-headed, milky-skinned Irish American. She has told me fascinating tales of Black Irish who live in Ireland, and are of African Moorish descent.

My point is that to say someone looks like a particular country anymore is redundant. To state that someone is Jamaican isn't descriptive enough. Bob Marley was Jamaican, but Bob Marley also had a white European father. Do all Jamaicans look like Bob Marley? Certainly not Peter Tosh.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see where the future takes us. Perhaps we'll all become so multinational that we'll no longer be able to distinguish anyone racially based on the country of their origin.

That's me with Ava DuVernay in the photo above. A well-known L.A. publicist, Ava also made a documentary called This Is The Life. I'll post her link, momentarily.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi