The other day, when reading the book ‘Covering’ by Kenji Yoshino, I saw this:“Racial covering occurs when non-whites “act white” by modulating their behaviors.”
Yoshino gives an example of Eric Liu’s memoir ‘The Accidental Asian’ where Liu says “Here are some of the ways you could say I am ‘white’”:
I listen to National Public Radio.
I wear khaki Dockers.
I own brown suede bucks.
I eat gourmet greens.
I have few close friends “of color.”
I married a white woman…
I am a child of the suburbs.
I furnish my condo à la Crate & Barrel.
I vacation in charming bed-and-breakfasts.
I have never once been the victim of blatant discrimination.
I am a member of several exclusive institutions.
I have been in the inner sanctums of political power.
I have been there as something other than an attendant.
I have the ambition to return.
I am a producer of the culture.
I expect my voice to be heard.
I speak flawless, unaccented English.
I subscribe to Foreign Affairs.
I do not mind when editorialists write in the first person plural.
I do not mind how white television casts are.
I am not too ethnic.
I am wary of minority militants.
I consider myself neither in exile nor in opposition.
I am considered a “credit to my race.”
Well I had to stop at “I married a white woman” and think a little! Yoshino points it out too:
Notice how Liu’s list includes all four of the covering axes: appearance (“I wear khaki Dockers,” “I own brown suede bucks”); affiliation (“I listen to National Public Radio,” “I furnish my condo à la Crate & Barrel,” “I speak flawless, unaccented English”); activism (“ I do not mind how white television casts are,” “I am not too ethnic,” “I am wary of minority militants”); and association (“I have few friends ‘of color,’” “I married a white woman”) … Contemplating my racial covering behaviors incites no such self-recrimination. It strikes me that I, like Liu, am an “accidental Asian” – someone who only “happens to be” Asian.
Most educated non-white people have been accused of “talking white” … an accusation that lands with a sting. Looking at Liu’s list, I think most of us are in it. I must as well put my name on the list of racial coverers … I love listening to hip hop. Does this mean I am trying to be Black… that I only “happen to be” whatever it is I am?
Going back to what made me stop and think a little, interracial dating and marriage has been labeled a lot of things … racism, hating your kind … you know what you say when you see that lovely interracial couple walking hand in hand enjoying their love. If Liu’s considers marrying a white woman as ‘being white’ and Yoshino says that “Racial covering occurs when non-whites “act white” by modulating their behaviors”, does this only apply to non-white people dating whites or does this mean interracial dating and/or marriage (as a whole) is racial covering?
Ms007 and Enigma have nailed this one to the wall. I don’t believe the majority of non-whites that marry caucasians are doing so in an attempt to “cover”. Their unions tend to draw more frowns than smiles from society which in itself trumps the idea that marrying white makes everything right. It all seems to boil down to initial attraction (physical), chemistry, and compatibility. But with all of our experiences, feelings, motives, mentallities, desires, and intellects being as diverse as they are, i could be wrong haha. Also, how come folks are dubbed “acting white” when their behavior has more to do with lifestyle or class than race?
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