The Hapa Project

By: Curtis Takaichi | January 29th, 2010

The other day I was browsing the internet, and I came across an interesting website/project/exhibit called the Hapa Project.  It’s a project designed to inform Americans of a new emerging race in our country: multi-racial Americans. More specifically, it displays Americans who are of an Asian ethnicity mixed with another race.

The term “Hapa” is a Hawaiian term used to describe multi-racial individuals with Asian/Pacific Islander roots.  Once deemed a derogatory term, has moved to the continental United States and is more widely accepted today.

The Hapa Project began with Kip Fullbeck asking Hapas to answer the question “What are you?” Many individuals across the country answered the question very differently, and had their picture taken from the top of their chest up. Kip’s project is now presented as a book, art exhibit and online community. You can check out his work at http://www.seaweedproductions.com/hapa/.

Kip’s project stems into an array of social issues that deal much with race and identity. It’s fascinating to read the statistics that he has discovered during his research. For example, there are approximatley 1.5 million Hapas in the United States, and of those 1.5 million, they makeup 13% of the Asian community. It’s intriguing to see that Hapas are just a small fraction of the total American population, but within the Asian community, Hapas are very much over-represented.

So, why did I dedicate an entire blog entry to the Hapa Project? It’s simple, I’m what you call “Hapa.” To answer the original question (“What are you?”), I see myself as an American grown up in a bi-racial culture steming from a Japanese father and a German mother. I’m often times referenced as the Axis powers of WWII, and I get the dreaded “Asian Glow” when I drink.

In a paragraph or less, answer the question “What are you?” in the comments section below.  And no, you don’t have to be Hapa to answer.