Being Eurasian: Memories Across Racial Divides

Introduction

Introduction Race is something which we utilized to provide clues about who a person is The fact is made painfully obvious when we encounter someone whom we cannot conveniently racially categorize — someone who is, for example, racially 'mixed' or of an ethnic-racial group with which we are not familiarSuch an encounter becomes a source of discomfort and momentarily a crisis of racial meaning Without a racial identity, one is in danger of having no identity (Omi, 62) T he term 'Eurasian' could elicit very different response s at differen t times and in different place s in history. Oftentimes, it has the power as Michael Omi suggests, of arousing momentarily a crisis of racial meaning — of suddenly undoing all our fixed and secured conditioned ideas about race. Yet it is precisely this power of Eurasianness, I believe, whic h could make us re-think and re-examine all those fixed and clearly define d boundaries about races. Interracial marriages have become quite a common phenomenon i n Hong Kong. Looking back half a century ago, a European was often thought to be ideologically liberal and progressive if he or she married a Chinese. Similarly, a Chinese was often associate d with a lack of Chinese cultural and racia l sensitivity if he or she married a European. But that was something belonging 2฀ Being Eurasian Memories Across Racial Divides to th e past , interracia l marriag e i n contemporar y Hon g Kon g n o longe r evokes tha t sens e o f ethnic tensio n an d ideologica l implication s i t onc e suggested. Eurasian children can be seen quite often in parks and playgrounds. A visi t t o an y o f the internationa l school s in Hong Kon g would quickl y confirm the large number of Eurasian children growing up in the community. Yet, probably not many of the contemporary offspring o f these Hong Kong mixed marriages realize that they are in fact living in a community whos e attitudes towards them are very different fro m what they used to be seventy or eighty years ago. The term 'Eurasian'1 has generally been understood to refer to someone of mixe d Europea n an d Asiati c parentag e and/o r ancestr y sinc e th e nineteenth centur y — a ter m invente d b y Marqui s o f Hastings , th e Governor-General of India in the early 1800s, as embracing all the progeny of white fathers an d nativ e India n mothers. In the pre-war generation i n Hong Kong, members of this community usually accepted the term 'Eurasian' to describe themselve s an d the y were often distinguishe d fro m th e Hon g Kong Portugues e communit y o r th e Hon g Kon g Portugues e Eurasia n community (whos e 'mesticos' heritage arose from ver y different historica l circumstances). The Hong Kong Eurasian community, which this book looks into, i s th e mixed-race d communit y i n Hon g Kon g whos e member s ar e descendants of mainly European and Chinese (sometimes Parsee or Middleeastern ) residents. And it is the memory of this metis community as expressed in the Eurasian autobiographies that this book is most interested in . 'Eurasian community' when used in this book will mean the community referred to by the Eurasian authors as the community in which they belonged. However, it must be noted that their views and memories of this community do not always agree On e Eurasian author might remember the community as very westernize d an d ofte n quit e apart from th e Chines e community . Another Eurasian author might remember it as a small community, which was itself apart of the Chinese community. There were, of course, Eurasians in different segment s and stratum of the Hong Kong community during the periods referre d t o b y th e author s But , a s shal l b e seen , th e Eurasia n community as recalled by the memoirists is one, which focuses more on the middle and upper-middle class. Introduction 3฀ I must state that this book is not a historical study of Hong Kong Eurasians. It i s simply a readin g o f th e memoir s writte n b...