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The Lesser-Known Asian
It is AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) month (May). With that being said, I want to bring attention to the fact that as we all know, Asia is huge. Asia is the largest landmass on our Earth and with that, comes a very large population. This includes West Asia (Turkey, Iran, etc.), North Asia (Russia), Central Asia (India, Bangledash, etc.), and East Asia (Japan, Korea, etc.). However, Americans in particular seem to forget that people from Asia exist outside of East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Let’s test this. When I ask an American “What do you think of when you think of ‘Asian’ for a person”. This will normally describe someone who, based on appearance, looks like they come out of Japan or China. However, as we all know, Asia is much larger than that.
Let’s take me as an example. I identify as Asian-American. Why? Because according to my DNA, a good chunk of my ancestors come from Eastern Europe, Middle East, and India. The Romani are my ancestors when talking about “specific” populations within my personal family tree. The Romani come out of India. Looks-wise, I consider myself “ambiguous”. This is because everyone I’ve asked…
