Month: April 2026

I have two sisters.  My younger sister was born in Puerto Rico; as such, she was a US citizen from birth.  I’ll occasionally tell her that she must run to be the president of the United States, since she is the only one among us who is qualified to run.  In response, she glares at me.  The very notion that the US population elects a Chinese woman born in Puerto Rico as president is logistically absurd.  While she certainly meets the legal requirement, there’s still implicit racial and gender bias that US citizens exhibit.

I became naturalized when my mom was naturalized, since I had yet to turn 18.  Ironically, I helped her study for that test by memorizing the questions and answers; I would’ve easily passed the test had I taken it.  I remember taking the oath as a teenager.  My older sister had already turned 18, so she took the naturalization exam and passed it years later.

Continue reading “A new form of identification” →

I grew up hearing that cringeworthy expression, “All Asian people look alike.”  I heard it occasionally from my friends.  I honestly thought that they made it up or were at least joking with me.  I mean, I could easily see the difference between two particular Asian people.  It astonished me to learn that they couldn’t.  Still, it sounded to me like a racist stereotype, like expecting me to be able to talk to our Japanese and Korean friends.

Years later, I was reading the book Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do.  Right from chapter one, Seeing Each Other, they confirmed this.  Studies corroborate this phenomenon, and as it happens, it’s a function of both nature and nurture.  People can see subtle differences among familiar faces, and the numbers suggest that it’s easier for Asian people to distinguish among Asian people (even when they’re strangers), etc.

Continue reading “Now you see me, Voting Rights Edition” →