Page 19 - Reflections on the Danger of a Single Story

As a Filipino American I suppose I did experience some single stories throughout my life. I grew up in a suburban town that was predominantly white. There were not that many Asians. I don’t think I really paid attention to ethnicity until people started pointing it out to me. Some questions that has always confused me have been, “What are you?” or “Where are you from?”. My responses were never correct. I’m an American. I’m from New York. When I finally answered that I was Filipino American, then it was like I passed the test with giving the correct answer. So my friends figured I was Asian and the only thing they really understood about Asia was China. My friends constantly joked around with me saying that I had to be the smart one or asking if I wanted fried rice or if I preferred watching movies on the wide screen. I know that they weren’t trying to be mean spirited but after a while it did begin to irk me.
I also experienced stereotypes from my Filipino family as well. I’m fair skinned and have large eyes so to my Filipino family I don’t look particularly Asian. I was considered the white cousin. If I wasn’t cold in the winter time they would say things like, “Oh her white blood is keeping her warm.” Or if I ate a strange Filipino dish they would be shocked. Sometimes I felt like I wasn’t Filipino enough for my family members but I’d ignore it because I knew they still loved me and that they were really just joking.
I guess I’ve always been sort of confused being a mixed child. I identify as both but it always seems like I wasn’t enough of one of the halves. It still confuses me to this day. I try not to identify with just ethnicity but it just seems like a norm of our society. Because I’ve grown up confused, I try to not have single stories about any type of person. It can be hard though, because as the video mentioned, “nkali”, the powerful people create the single stories that stick with people. I’m lucky to have met a diverse group of people to show me other stories, otherwise the “nkali” of American media would have molded me to have the same single stories of people that most people have.
KATRINA KLINKE