“What Are You?”

By Dorry Guerra

Jaisey* Image source: author’s own. 

 

“What Are You?” This is a question with which many multiracial individuals are familiar. When I ask Jaisey* how she feels when she herself is asked this, she tells me that it depends on the context. It means something different to be asked this question in the States versus in Korea. In the States, her response to the question is something along the lines of “What do you mean ‘What am I?’ You hear me talking; I’m American!” In Korea though, Jaisey considers the question more of a compliment. She feels that it is an expression of Koreans’ “picking up on” or acknowledging (and accepting) her part-Korean heritage, and this is especially significant because while she is indeed half-Korean (her mother is Korean), most Koreans assume she is just “American” (or “Caucasian”).