As a White-Passing AAPI, My ‘Asianness’ Has Been Questioned and Doubted

Iwas an impressionable 18-year-old, and a freshman in college. My new friends and I were at a dorm room party where I was introduced to a group of guys. The normal questions of, “What dorm do you live in? What are you studying?” were being tossed around. I named the dorm that I lived in, when one of the guys responded, “That sucks you live there. You live next to all the weird Chinese kids.” The international students’ dorm was next door. I was a little taken aback and confused by that comment. “I am Chinese,” I replied back confidently. He then looked at me in disbelief before proceeding to say, “No way you are. You don’t look it. Well, do you speak Chinese then?” As my insecurities started to creep in I defensively said, “Yes, I am studying Mandarin in school right now.” He started laughing and said, “I can speak Chinese, too: poo poo platter, lo mein, ching chong” I was. In. Shock. Never in my life had someone been so outwardly insensitive, ignorant, and hurtful to me — and without showing any signs of remorse. I walked out of the room and burst into tears. <a href="https://stopasianhate.medium.com/as-a-white-passing-aapi-my-asianness-has-been-questioned-and-doubted-f20345140f0">Read More</a>