Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

Encyclopedia : E : EU : EUR : Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

Princess Alexandra of Denmark, of Chinese, British, Polish, and Austrian descent.

Eurasian, in English vernacular, is a term that refers to those of mixed European and Asian ancestry.

The word was originally used during 19th century British rule over India to refer to a person born of a British father and an Indian mother. Contemporary use of the term often refers to people of mixed European and East/Southeast Asian descent.

More precise descriptions may include Nordic/Baltic/Slavic/Celtic/Latin European linkages with people of Chinese/Indian/Afghan/Turkic/Mongolian and other heritages.

Contents

1 Statistics
2 Appellations
3 Religion
4 Aesthetics
5 Identity

5.1 Self Identity
5.2 Identified by others as:

6 Notes
7 See also

7.1 Lists

8 External links

Statistics

Koji Murofushi, Japanese olympic hammer thrower of Japanese and Romanian descent

In the period of Portuguese, British, French, and Dutch colonialism in Asia, many Eurasians became clerks or supervisors in business or government. Eurasians tended to marry Eurasians, particularly in India where their numbers increased to over 400,000. They became a separate social and economic stratum between the ruling Europeans and the Indian local populations. "Eurasian" became a derogatory term in India, and "Anglo-Indian" was substituted. When colonialism ended, many Eurasians, particularly in Burma and Indonesia, suffered because they were distrusted as alien and closely allied with the displaced colonial rulers.

According to the United States Census Bureau, concerning multi-racial families in 1990:

Census data indicate that the number of children in interracial families grew from less than one half million in 1970 to about two million in 1990. In 1990, for interracial families with one White partner, the other parent...was Asian for 45 percent...[U.S. Census Bureau, 2000]

According to James P. Allen and Eugene Turner from California State University, Northridge, by some calculations the largest part white bi-racial population is white/American Indian and Alaskan Native, at 7,015,017, followed by white/black at 737,492, then white/asian at 727,197, and finally white/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander at 125,628.http://www.csupomona.edu/~mreibel/2000_Census_Files/Allen-Turner.doc

In the Philippines, Eurasians are called mestizos, and they make up a tiny minority of the population. A recent genetic study suggests that 3.5% of all Filipinos have at least some European ancestry, most likely Spanish.

Appellations

Most Eurasians in Southeast and South Asia carry European surnames, and the possession of such surnames typically indicates European descent; exept in the case of the Philippines.

The most common European ancestry among Filipino mestizos is Spanish. While the majority of the small mestizo minority in the Philippines possess Spanish surnames, these surnames are also the most common among the rest of the population as a result of a royal decree ordering they be adopted by all Filipinos. As such, in the vast majority of cases, possessing a Spanish surname in the Philippines does not indicate Spanish ancestry.

The most common ancestry and surname of Eurasians is British for those in South Asia; Portuguese for those in Malaysia, Macau, East Timor, and Goa; Dutch for those in Indonesia and French for those in Vietnam. In Burma, the Anglo-Burmese reflect the most diverse lineage and include British, Irish, Dutch, French, Portuguese, German and Spanish surnames.

The oldest Eurasian community in the region is in Malacca, in Malaysia; it began when the town was a Portuguese settlement, and many of its residents later moved to Singapore. There were also numerous Eurasians in the Netherlands East Indies, but following Indonesian independence most emigrated to the Netherlands, where there is an annual Eurasian festival called Pasar Malam Besar (literally 'big evening market' in Indonesian), the largest of its kind in the world. East Timor, also in Southeast Asia, has a significant and active Eurasian minority.

In India, the term Anglo-Indian is used and often preferred rather than Eurasian, although this may not only also apply to people with British ancestry, but also Portuguese or Dutch. While ostracised by many Indians during the British Raj, Anglo-Indians enjoy the same rights as other Indian citizens, and there are still seats reserved in parliament for them. Many have emigrated to the UK or Australia. In the UK, well-known Anglo-Indians include singers Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck, though the latter later moved to the United States, while TV personality Melanie Sykes has an Anglo-Indian and Anglo-Burmese mother. The late Hollywood actress Merle Oberon was also Anglo-Indian, while the British actress Kate Beckinsale also has some Anglo-Burmese ancestry.

Burma (prior to independence) had a large and generally prosperous Eurasian community known as the Anglo-Burmese. They tended to dominate various sectors of colonial and post-independence society in Burma. In following years, many emigrated from Burma or assimilated into Bamar (Burman) society. Today, many Anglo-Burmese live in English-speaking countries (e.g. UK, Australia, and U.S.). Some also moved to India where they have integrated into the Anglo-Indian community.

Religion

The overwhelming majority of Eurasians are Christian, and they can belong to any of the many Christian denominations, although mostly Catholicism, Anglicanism, and to a lesser extent other protestant churches. This religious factor marks another sharp difference between Eurasians and the Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Confucian or other religious majorities of Asian countries#redirect .

Eurasians tend to represent the bulk of the Christian communities in the Asian countries in which there are established Eurasian communities, accompanied by a smaller proportion of the indigenous people who have converted to particular religious traditions. The exceptions for this trend are the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, and China#redirect .

Aesthetics

Hari Kunzru, British author of Indian and British descent

A study by the University of Western Australia found Eurasians are viewed as more attractive than monoracial Asians or Caucasians by a participant pool of mostly white Australians and a minority of Japanese. The study used a relatively small number of raters (less than 100) in each of the experiments. The ratings given were found to be "highly reliable" within the context of the study, with experiment #1 achieving Cronbach coefficients above 0.94, indicating a strong consistency between raters.

In all three experiments faces with mixed-race characteristics were particularly attractive. Mixed-race averaged composites, created by combining faces from two races, were rated as more attractive than either Caucasian or Asian averaged composites by both Caucasian and Asian raters (in experiments 1 and 2, but not experiment 3), and individual mixed-race faces (Eurasian) were rated as more attractive than either Caucasian or Asian faces (experiment 3). Eurasian composites, made from Eurasian faces, were also more attractive than Caucasian and Asian composites (experiment 3). These results clearly demonstrate the appeal of mixed-race traits. [Attractiveness of own-race, other-race, and mixed-race faces, University of Western Australia, p. 337]

Eurasian participants primaily used were students in a university psychology class, and the study authors noted that "we cannot be sure that these faces were representative of these groups, and, ideally, future studies should randomly select faces from large databases of each group."

Many people feel that the idea that Eurasians are innately more beautiful than monoracial people is a stereotype that sets unrealistic standards. Holding Eurasians on pedestals of idealised beauty can be both psychologically and physically harmful.[Eurasian Invasion, Time Asia].

''"There's a real pressure here to look mixed," says one Asian veejay in Singapore. "Even though we're Asians broadcasting in Asia, we somehow still think that Western is better." That sentiment worries Asians and Eurasians. "More than anything, I'm proud to be Thai," says Willy McIntosh, a 30-year-old Thai-Scottish TV personality, who spent six months as a monk contemplating his role in society. "When I hear that people are dyeing their hair or putting in contacts to look like me, it scares me. The Thai tradition that I'm most proud of is disappearing. [Eurasian Invasion, Time Asia]

Identity

This section discusses identity politics in places where there are not many multi-generational Eurasian communities(such as the United States). It would not necessarily apply in cases where the Eurasian is born into an established multi-generational Eurasian community (in places such as India, listed above).

Self Identity

Most Eurasians have one Asian parent and one White parent, thus, the only Eurasian relatives they would have are their own siblings. Due to the lack of connectivity amongst Eurasians, racial identity is usually a result of self exploration, rather than of nurture. How one Eurasian defines himself may be different from how another Eurasian defines herself. This in turn causes a lack of cohesiveness in what some would call the Eurasian Community. Others would say that such a community does not exist in the same sense that other ethnic communities (Korean-American for example) would.

Chief observable factors that can contribute to how Eurasians decide to identify themselves include, but are not limited to:

:1. Degree to which one looks Asian or White.

:2. Races of parents. (For example, Eurasian A has an Asian mother, while Eurasian B has an Asian father. Eurasian C on the other hand, has 2 Eurasian parents.)

:3. Ethnicities of parents.

:4. Native language. (the language one is most proficient in)

:5. Place where one was raised.

Some Eurasians will identify themselves as White, others will identify themselves as Asian, and still others will identify themselves as something in between. Often among those who choose the third option, there is a debate between deciding if Eurasians are both or neither.

Identified by others as:

Eurasians who may identify a certain way are not always identified in the same way by everyone else. Oftentimes the one factor that absolutely determines how total strangers identify a Eurasian is the degree to which one looks Asian or White. Among those who are familiar with the Eurasian however, other cultural and social factors add to how they would identify the Eurasian. As these are less observable, it is difficult to compile a concise list.

Sometimes societies have certain criteria in defining the ethnicity/race/nationality of a person. More than one of these criteria may apply to a Eurasian, causing confusion.

Notes

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.