"In the beginning, people would stare at me when I would speak Chinese," junior Sati Houston said, "They would say 'Oh my God!' A black person speaking Chinese! "

Houston who takes Chinese 5, speaks the language at home with her mother, a native of Taiwan. She said people think she looks African-American, even though she is a mix of ethnicities from all around the globe.

"People ask me, 'Are you black?'" Houston said. "I tell them I'm part African-American, but I'm also Taiwanese, Native American, Italian and Mexican."

In middle school, Houston said she felt pressured to choose which racial group she identified with most. “I had my insecurities,” Houston explained. “I didn't know where I belonged, but now I don’t feel compelled to choose a particular racial group to identify with.”

Jack Zhou Clockwise from top to left: junior Sati Houston- African-American, Taiwanese, Italian and Mexican, sophomore Takeshi Kaji- Japanese and white, senior Fawn Bertram- Chinese and White, senior Jazmine Holmes- African-American, Japanese and Chinese.

Most mixed race students are often questioned about their “primary ethnicity,” and are forced to choose one during standardized testing. The PSAT states, "Choose your primary ethnicity" and gives the choices: American Indian, Asian-Pacific Islander, African-American, Hispanic or Latino, White and Other. Since students can only make one choice, people who are mixed usually choose "Other." However, the San Francisco Unified School District doesn't include "Other" as a category in their data collection, and sent out notices forcing students who chose "Other" on the PSAT to choose only one ethnicity in the SFUSD database.

Senior Sanjay Sugarek, who is Indian and Chinese, rebelled against the system. "I marked 'Other' for my ethnicity,” Sugarek said. “My counselor hunted me down and made me choose one box. I made my own box on the form ─ 'Other'─ and checked it." One of the largest federal agencies, the Department of Education, has not implemented policies which would allow students to mark one or more races on forms. Organizations supporting mixed-race youth such as the Mavin Foundation (mavin.net), are currently advocating for changes in this system., Department of Education standards affect over 76 million students nationwide, including over 2.5 million students of mixed race who are currently forced to check one ethnicity, according to the Mavin Web site On the 2000 U.S. Census, citizens had the option to mark more than one race for the first time.

San Francisco Board of Education member Eric Mar acknowledged the need for the SFUSD to follow the example of the Census and change the system. “The (SFUSD) has a weird history in collecting racial data,” Mar said. “We should better track the number of mixed race students.” However, Mar points out that some “legal barriers” prevent this alteration in the system. In 1994, three Chinese parents sued the district for discriminating against their children based on race. “Parents believe that racial info is irrelevant in student assignments,” Mar said, help in explaining why the district board has not taken initiative in making the changes.

SF State Asian-American studies professor Wei Ming Dariotis also advocates the more than one race option on racial forms. “It’s difficult to get bureaucrats to change the system,” Dariotis, who is Greek and Chinese, said. “All institutions should allow everyone to choose the ethnic groups they identify with.”

However, Dariotis objects to a “mixed” category in data collection. “Mixed people don’t identify as just being ‘mixed.’” Dariotis explained. “It’s much more rich and complex than that. We should be able to acknowledge that complexity and be able to claim all of our identities.”

Some mixed-race students feel that the school district needs to make changes to their classification system. “I want people to be able to accurately express their ethnicity when the SFUSD is collecting data,” sophomore Takeshi Kaji said. “Their method of collecting data is inaccurate.”

Kaji, who is Japanese and Caucasian, sent a letter this past summer to the Office of Statistics asking for an option for mixed race students to check “more than one” or a “multiracial” box.

“Please don't make another kid choose between two halves, or any other fractions,” Kaji wrote in the letter. He said he has not yet received a reply.

Senior Daniel Chin, who is Chinese and Puerto Rican, openly disobeys the ethnicity box on standardized testing. “I always fill more than one (ethnicity) – to rebel against that mentality of categorization,” Chin said. “I want to make their machines go ‘beep, beep.’”

Chin and other multiracial students view their backgrounds as a way to assimilate with various groups of people, and reject the need to be categorized.

“Growing up biracial helps me understand the world better. I don't conform to one (ethnicity) or the other,” Chin explained. “Nothing is black or white; everything is gray.”

Chin said that San Franciscans are familiar to the mixed race population. “People in San Francisco aren't quick to jump to conclusions (about my race), and are used to people being mixed,” Chin said.

Senior Fawn Bertram, who is white and Chinese, agrees. “Since I am mixed, I can fit in with different groups, and can't be stereotyped as easily,” Bertram said.

Many mixed-race students find their unique backgrounds to be an advantage when applying to college.

However, when senior Jazmin Holmes, who is African-American, Japanese and Chinese, first talked to her counselor last year, the counselor said it would be “immoral” to use her African-American background as a way to get into colleges. Holmes said when she asked, “Is it because I don’t look black?” Her counselor responded, “You don’t associate with black people.”

Nevertheless, Holmes said that she is checking “black” as her ethnicity on college applications. “Why not?” she rationalizes, “It helps me,” when colleges are striving for ethnic diversity.

Holmes, who thought she was only Japanese and Chinese until middle school, said that she discovered her grandfather was African-American after she questioned her father and Japanese grandmother.

Holmes said that initially her friends didn't believe that she's part African-American, but now they playfully make jokes about her. “After I tell people I'm black, they say, 'So that's why you can play basketball!’”

At school, Kaji said that his Asian friends and his white friends have different views of his race. “My Asian friends at first thought I was white, and my white friends thought I was Asian,” Kaji said with a light-hearted laugh.

Since the parents of mixed-race children have assimilated into American culture, they sometimes find it difficult to continue the traditions of their parents' ancestors. “At home we don't eat Filipino food, we eat pasta and chicken,” said senior Sean Finerty, who is Irish, Italian, and Filipino. “My mom came to the United States from the Philippines when she was five. She has no accent now. She can still understand Tagalog, but we don't speak it at home.”

Kaji said he feels disconnected with the Japanese side of his family, but still considers his heritage an important part of his identity. “I think most mixed people are caught between two cultures, but I'm almost completely alienated from my Japanese family,” Kaji said. However, he added, “If I didn't express to people that I was Japanese and white, I would feel like I was hiding a part of myself.”

Sophomore Cyan Curtis, who is white, Chinese, Japanese, and Hawaiian, said she thinks she has a nice balance between the cultures in her family. She learns traditional hula dancing from a Hawaiian instructor, who not only teaches her how to dance, but also the history and culture of Hawaii.

“People stereotype (Hawaiians with) hula with grass skirts and coconut bras, but they never really wore those,” Curtis said.

Curtis also practices taiko, Japanese drumming, with some friends in Japantown. She said she enjoys learning Japanese songs and hanging out with other young people. Since San Francisco embraces many cultures from around the globe, Chin said he identifies more with San Francisco’s multicultural environment than with Chinese or Puerto Rican customs. “I don't feel attached to Chinese culture,” Chin said. “I respect and appreciate it, but it's not something that defines me.”

Chin said he celebrates Chinese New Year with his dad's side of the family and Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos, or Three Kings’ Day, on January 6 with his mom's family. However, Chin adds that both holidays are a "bigger deal" where his parents grew up, in Malaysia and Puerto Rico.

Houston, who also celebrates Chinese New Year, said that because of her upbringing, she identifies with Chinese culture more than African culture. “I have been around the Asian culture more than African culture,” Houston said. “I feel ignorant (to the culture) when I’m with my dad’s relatives, but I don’t have a problem with it.”

As multiracial populations increases, labeling becomes impossible. “You have to understand that I’m mixed, and I come from two different worlds,” Chin explained. “People have to accept that everything can’t be categorized.”

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