Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

Eurasian is a general term for people and ethnic groups of mixed European and Asian ancestry, regardless of continent of origin. The term Eurasian may also be used among those of mixed European and Pacific Islander ancestry, although the term "Euronesian" is becoming more popular in usage.

In this general sense of the term, Eurasians do not constitute a well-defined ethnic group, but rather a large collection of ethnic groups with vastly different cultures, histories, genetic profiles, religions, etc.. Therefore, there is little justification to treat European-Asian people as a whole separately from European-African, European-Amerind, and other mixed-ancestry categories. Furthermore, many individuals and communities of mixed European-Asian descent do not think of themselves as 'ethnic Eurasian', and do not see their mixed ancestry as being relevant to their ethnic or national identity.

In some countries and epochs, however, the term 'Eurasian' may refer to specific ethnic groups. In fact, the word was originally coined during 19th century British India to refer to persons born of European fathers, primarily British, and South Asian mothers, primarily Indians.

In some of the countries where "Eurasian" had a specific meaning, it eventually became a derogatory term. In India, in particular, is has now been replaced by the politically correct "Anglo-Indian".

Overview

Origins

Many Eurasian ethnic groups arose during colonial occupation of Asian regions by European states and private corporations, that started with the great wave of European naval expansion and exploration in the 16th century and continues to the present. The main European colonial powers were Spain and Portugal in the 16th century, followed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France from the 17th century onwards.

In many regions, Eurasians tended to marry and socialize mostly among themselves --- thus forming a separate social and economic class, which eventually became a distinctive ethnic group.

Social and economic status

With their close ties to both the ruling Europeans and the local populations, Eurasians had a NATURAL vocation to act as indermediaries --- clerks, administrators, police officers, and the like --- between the two classes; a position that sometimes gave them power and prosperity.

As European colonies gained their independence, different Eurasian groups met with different fortunes. Often they were discriminated and persecuted, being seen as alien and allied of the former rulers; this was the fate, for example, of the Anglo-Burmese in Burma, and of the Indo (Dutch-Malay) people of Indonesia. In other cases, where the Eurasians had citizen status in the colonial power, they chose to emigrate simply for economic reasons. In a few cases, the Eurasians able to retain their status after the transition, or even to take over the status the former colonial rulers --- as in the Philippines, for example, where the Mestizos are politically dominant to this day.

Numbers

As seen with the given statistics on the ethnic group template, there are more Eurasians living in the Malay Archipelago as a region, more than any other region in the world.

Today, many relatively small Eurasian communities exist in Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, and in Hong Kong.

Specific groups

Philippines

The Eurasians of the Philippines form a very tightly knit relationship with Amerasians and due to their cultural similarities and common Western worldview. Both are considered as overrepresented in the entertainment industry, and are widely held in high esteem due to a generalized colonial mindset among Filipinos. Eurasians are viewed positively in the Philippines, and those with European phenotypes in particular are widely promoted as the standard of beauty. Most of the European introgression among Eurasians in the Philippines are of Spanish origin, while some, to a lesser degree, are of British origin. Meanwhile, contemporary migration and intermarriages between Filipinos (both male and female) with expatriates from Europe, Australia and the United States continue to result in an increasing number of Eurasians, particularly part white American, white Australian, British, French, German, Italian, Austrian, Swiss, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Slavic and Scandinavian, among others, in addition to the more common Spanish. A recent genetic study suggests that around 3.6% of the Filipino population is Eurasian, although it is probable that counting at least part-European ancestry going back many generations, the percentage is much higher.

The Philippines also has large Amerasian populations (including part-African and part-native American), having the largest population of American citizens in all of Asia.

United States

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

In the United States, 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 American partner, the other parent...was Asian American for 45 percent...

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.

US Census

The US Census categorizes Eurasian responses in the "Some other race" section as part of the Asian race. The Eurasian responses the US Census officially recognizes are Indo-European, Amerasian, and Eurasian.

Netherlands

After World War II, most Eurasians of European and Indonesian descent settled (after the overthrow of Dutch colonial rule) in The Netherlands and thereafter in America and elsewhere. Dutch Eurasians were typically Dutch citizens and were seen as having collaborated with the Dutch government by many Indonesians, whereas the Indonesian revolutionary leaders were seen as having collaborated with the Japanese invaders by many Dutch. Both of those perceptions were largely correct. These Dutch Eurasians, also called Indos or Indo-Europeans, have largely assimilated in the Netherlands and, with over 500,000 persons, are the largest ethnic minority in the Netherlands.

Appellations

Most Eurasians in Southeast and South Asia carry European surnames, and the possession of such surnames sometimes indicates European descent; except in the case of the Philippines and certain Hindu/Sikh/Catholic communities in India.

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, possessing a Spanish surname in the Philippines does not necessarily 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 and German 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. East Timor, also in Southeast Asia, has a significant and active Eurasian minority known as mestiços (of mixed Portuguese and Tetum ancestry).

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 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. In India, at one time, there were more than 300,000 Anglo-Indians.

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 the country and were believed to be affluent and somewhat aloof from general Burmese society. In the immediate post-independence years, some emigrated to the UK and Australia. However, following the establishment of socialist, military rule and the adoption of discriminatory measures against them by the government in the 1960's, most emigrated from Burma or assimilated into Bamar (Burman) society. Today, most Anglo-Burmese live in English-speaking countries (e.g. UK, Australia, and U.S.), principally in Perth, Western Australia and in the UK. Some also moved to India where they have integrated into the Anglo-Indian community. Indian film star Helen is an Anglo-Burmese, while the British actress Kate Beckinsale and singer/songwriter Jamie Cullum also has some Anglo-Burmese ancestry.

In North America, some of the descendants of Southeast Asian refugees as a result of French settlers and soldiers during the French colonial period ) or during the Franco-Vietnamese War / First Indochina War ) are racially Eurasian. Additionally, the Korean War and Vietnam War of the mid-twentieth century brought immigrants to the United States and Canada. More recently, there has also been large scale immigration from Asia to the United States, primarily from East Asian countries. Modern day Eurasian descendants of East Asians include Kristin Kreuk and Melissa O'Neil. Modern day Eurasian descendants of Southeast Asians include Maggie Q and Michelle Branch.

Languages

Eurasians will usually speak the native language of their home country, and may or may not speak the language(s) of an ancestral or parental ethnic.

The overwhelming majority of all Eurasians with Filipino ancestry of the younger generations typically speak English as their first language, and have a basic command of at least one Philippine language. Many also speak Lan-nang (Philippine Hokkien), if they also have Chinese ancestry, as well as other European languages like Spanish, German, or French.

The Kristang and Macanese groups have also formed their own languages. The Kristang language is a dialect of Portuguese influenced by Malay as well as Petjo, a dialect compromised of Dutch words based on a Malay grammatical structure.

Culture

Eurasian culture is mostly tied-up with their ethnic affiliation.

In East Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan, most Eurasians choose to identify with the culture of the country they live in.

Eurasians in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, and Thailand have developed a separate culture from the rest of the indigenous populations in their respective countries, as they typically are regarded by both the foreign and indigenous communities in their respective countries as a separate entity. Many Eurasians with Chinese ancestry in Singapore nevertheless do share the same culture with their Chinese Singaporean counterparts.

In Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands, an annual Eurasian festival is organized under the name Pasar Malam Besar.

Identification in the Modern West

Eurasians in Asia sometimes encounter discrimination because historically many of their mothers were impregnated by Europeans with the woman often having been raped or engaged in prostitution (the father often having been a soldier). Thus, the children are viewed as illegitimate and something that serves as a shameful marker for many people in that society. While this is not usually the case for Eurasians in the West, issues may also arise there, such as issues around one's cultural loyalties, values, and perceived racial ambiguity (the latter is especially true in the U.S. because of the rule of hypodescent).

Identification by Others

Eurasians who may identify a certain way are not always identified in the same way by everyone else. Often, the one factor that determines how total strangers identify a Eurasian is the degree to which one looks Asian or European. 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. In regions where Eurasians have historically been the result of U.S. servicemen, Eurasians have been discriminated against. Eurasians in Vietnam, such as Henry Phan, claim that many Asians consider Eurasians to have been born from prostitutes which is considered negative. Some Eurasians like Asha Gill (Indian/White) claim that "Asians despise us because we get all the jobs" and media portrayals.

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

Terminology

There are many other terms that apply to Eurasians.

• Amerasian (America + Asian) connotes the children of U.S. servicemen with Asian women.
• Anglo-Indian refers to people of British and Indian descent
• Bo KaBya/Anglo-Burmese - is the Burmese language notion that is an interracial mixture of Westerner and Asian, in this case, people from Burma (also known as Myanmar).
• Burgher People of mixed Sri Lankan and Portuguese or Dutch decent.
• Hapa haole, or simply hapa, meaning half-foreigner or simply half-something
• Chirish refers to people of Irish and Chinese ancestry.
• Haafu, which is derived from the Japanese word and their English pronunciation of "half."
• Konketsuji, the Japanese term for Amerasians.
• Ai no ko, in Japanese literally means "child of unlike things put together."
• Bụi đời, is the Vietnamese term for the children of U.S. servicemen and Vietnamese women and literally means "dust of life."
• Colored, a somewhat derogatory term for mixed race, some governments consider Eurasians as non-Caucasians and therefore "colored."
• Con lai, is Vietnamese for "half-breed" or "mixed race."
• Mỹ lai, is Vietnamese for "American mix."
• Luk kreung is Thai, derived from luk- child, offspring: son or daughter; smaller sub-part and khreung- half, midway; mid; ½.
• Hùnxuè'ér (:zh:混血兒) is Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) for "mixed blood".
• Honhyol (:ko:혼혈) is Korean, derived from honhap-blend, mixture; hybrid; solution, and hyolgi-blood. It is the Sino-Korean pronunciation of the Chinese 混血.
• Konketsu (:ja:混血) is the corresponding Sino-Japanese word.
• Kacukan in malay means cross-breed or mix blood.
• Serani is Malay for "Eurasian." It is based on the Arabic word "Nasrani", meaning "followers of Jesus of Nazarene (Christianity)" since that the majority of Eurasians are Christians.
• Indo is a term for European-Indonesian.
• Filipino mestizo, in modern Philippine usage, it applies to those of part-foreign ancestry, often Spanish.
• Tisoy (male) or Tisay (female) from mestizo or mestiza, in colloquial Filipino, refers to Filipinos of full or part-White descent, though in recent times has begun to refer to indigenous Filipinos of semi-Caucasian features; the word is actually used as a term of endearment with generally positive connotations. Compare to the related colloquial form Pinoy or Pinay.
• Tornatrás is an archaic term used during the Spanish colonial period which once referred to people of mixed Spanish and Chinese descent, as well as those of mixed Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino descent.
• Wasian (White + Asian) is a slang term for people of both White and Asian decent.

See also

• List of Eurasians
• Amerasian
• Anglo-Burmese
• Anglo-Indians
• Bui doi
• Eurasian Singaporean
• Luk kreung
• Melungeon
• Peranakan
• Afro-Asian
• Indo (Eurasian)
• Filipino mestizo
• Mestiços (Sri Lanka)
• Burgher people
• Bhowani Junction
• Crimean Tatars
• Lipka Tatars
• Turkic peoples
• Uyghur people

External links

• AngloIndians.com - Anglo-Indian resources & matrimony
• AsiansOfMixedRace.com
• Eurasian Association of Singapore
• Resource on Mixed Asians
• Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project
• Maleisie.be article on Malaysian Dutch Descendants

ko:혼혈 ja:混血 simple:Eurasian zh:亚欧混血