When do you ‘count’? The issue with #Yellowstone and Mixed Race People

The Fairy Princess is mixed race. We sometimes refer to that as Hapa in the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. Hapa comes from the Native Hawaiian language and it began as Hapa Haole – which meant, “half-foreign’.

Hapa does not refer to the content of anyone’s Asian or Pacific Islander heritage – and that is something that sometimes gets confused – but refers to the thing that makes them different, the ‘other’ that is oftimes considered a marker of losing one’s heritage if you are of Pacific Islander or Asian heritage. Or honestly, any kind of ethnic diversity, once you mix ‘the other’ into it, people start to lose their minds over it.

The mixing.

Nowhere in the history of Asian or Pacific Islander peoples have people particularly welcomed these ‘half breed’ children. Though the Native Hawaiians were the most welcoming and Hapa (again, shorthand for Hapa Haole), was not a slur. Which explains why mixed race people particularly of Pacific Islander or Asian descent enjoy using this term, and why it’s usage had expanded into the general lexicon of American language.

Not ‘co-opted‘ – it’s usage is commonplace now, that is an entirely different thing. If we all stopped using words from other languages, we would all have to go back to hand signals and grunting.

Oscar Hammerstein wrote a whole show about the horror with which mixed raced children are viewed called SOUTH PACIFIC, if you are interested. There are plenty of derogatory names for them, which TFP will not go into – and in general, unless these kids happen to be super smoking hot like Miss Universe Brook Lee,

who yes, hails from Hawaii, most ‘pureblood‘ people do not welcome Hapas.

(Happy Harry Potter’s Kid goes to Hogwart’s Day, btw)

It is an ‘actual thing.“, as the kids say.

TFP, she is ‘half-other’. Her heritage is Irish, Chinese, and Welsh – as well as being of dual nationality – Australian and American. She is married to a Korean of Chinese descent American, and thus her child is Korean, Chinese, Irish, and Welsh.

That someone is of mixed heritage is important because being of mixed heritage, is enough to get one publicly flayed for not being ‘enough.’

This is not solely the view of people within Pacific Islander or Asian American groups- this is a cross cultural problem within EVERY  group.

If there is one thing that unites us all, it is that the mixing of ethnic heritages (we are not talking Irish/English, or French/Norwegian) that results in different skin tones has never been welcomed by any group.

Ever.

Here is the issue this week- very well considered by ReAppropriate – there is a Native American Actor named Adam Beach.

You have likely seen him in films and on television – he is quite a good actor. TFP has always enjoyed his performances, and he is an advocate in his community as well as being a commercially employed Hollywood actor.

All to his credit.

Mr. Beach is a leader in his community, and so – people listen when he talks, or posts on social media.

This past week, Mr. Beach took issue with a mixed race Actress named Kelsey Asbille, being hired to play a role of a Native American.

Mr. Beach identifies Ms. Asbille as Asian American, or rather mixed race Asian American – aka Asian and Caucasian.

The issue is, that Ms. Asbille identifies herself as Asian, Native American, and Caucasian in an interview with The New York Times, and has played Native American before in the film, WIND RIVER.

Here is the direct quote from the article “What’s so Hard about Casting Indian Actors in Indian Roles?” in regards to her playing the role in WIND RIVER:

Kelsey Asbille, who plays Natalie, the young Indian woman who is raped and murdered in “Wind River,” is of Taiwanese, British and Eastern Band Cherokee descent. Although she did not grow up in an indigenous community, she said she had an “intense connection” to Natalie and what she stood for, adding, “This role, more than any other, it’s in my blood.”

In the film WIND RIVER – a film where concerted effort was made to cast authentically – Ms. Asbille passed the test. That film, incidentally, won Taylor Sheridan a Best Director trophy in Cannes.

Then she got another role, a role Mr. Beach felt should go to someone who has been more active in the NA community. This role involves portraying a young wife of Native Heritage who lives on a Reservation in a project called YELLOWSTONE.

Now, the Writer/Director of YELLOWSTONE is Taylor Sheridan, the man who cast her in  WIND RIVER, she is not the main star of the series. The main star is Kevin Costner. She will play the wife of his youngest son.

Did she read for this role, or was it offered? We are not her agents and we do not really know, but it is likely that if the Actor/Director relationship worked well the first time, she had a bit of a head start over other NA Actresses who may have gone in. Again, the Director believes that she has NA heritage. He is accepting of her mixed heritage, as he should be.

Interestingly quoted in that same NY Times article, is Professor Carla Pratt who stated:

“Being Indian is more of a political and cultural identity than racial,” explained Carla Pratt, a professor at Penn State University and a justice of the Supreme Court of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “We do have a reluctance to accept someone who doesn’t fit that stereotypical image.”

Which explains why Mr. Beach is very ‘dug in’ in his opinion about her playing the role.

In other words, while the Census and the Director would perhaps consider Ms. Asbille to ‘count’, Mr. Beach would not – because he is concerned with both community awareness and participation, as much as he is concerned about acting.

That this ‘controversy’ is really a thinly disguised purity test is not a surprise to TFP.

No one has ever truly welcomed racial mixing, and even as our world continues to evolve, those of us on the front lines will continue to take the hits. This, even as it is acknowledged that racial mixing will continue and it will be a larger segment of the population of America moving forward.

Lest we forget, Chloe Bennet recently had to respond to people who criticized her for changing her surname from her Father’s last name to his first name, because of what she called out as the bias of Hollywood.

Keanu Reeves, Dwayne Johnson, Moon Bloodgood,  Nancy Kwan, Merle Dandridge, and every other person of mixed race descent  have all had to explain their right to tell stories that they were entitled to tell based on Family History.

Imagine if you were under as much scrutiny as a mixed race Actor or Actress- eternally justifying your existence – having to constantly avow your ‘loyalty’ to every faction to which you do and should lay claim.

“But I make my own (insert traditional dish)”

“I practice traditional dance every day”

“I have tattoos that show my pride in my heritage.”

You would be as exhausted as TFP is- and that is not something she would wish on anyone. Inherent in the need to justify – is also blatant sexism – women are asked to explain themselves more than men- this is common to all women.

People always want women to explain themselves more than men.

An example would be Actor Jason Momoa, who has a host of races within his heritage, and also played a mixed race Native American in his series on Netflix, FRONTIER. His being of mixed descent is a huge plot point and he is surrounded by Indigenous Actors and Actresses who also have roles of great importance within the show. He used his heritage to help get the project off the ground, and he used it as a plot point.

TFP recalls absolutely no one questioning his ‘right’ to self identify as Native American.

Of course, Jason Momoa is JASON MOMOA!!

No one is going to ‘check’ Drogo.

No one.

But a young gal in her twenties…they will come for her.

Because, men.

The issue to TFP is the bias that is shown towards people of mixed heritage on a regular basis.

If we audition and happen to do the best that day, it is never ‘unchallenged‘ unless there is a qualifier, a reason that ‘purebloods‘ can accept for our casting. ‘She is fluent…’ or ‘They are an expert in…’ there has to be what TFP laughingly refers to as ‘plausible inclusivity’ when we are cast.

When the truth is – we all get called in, we all look a variety of ways within our ‘grouping’, we all read, someone reads ‘the best’.

They get the job as long as the physicality of the actress fits the role and casting finds them credible.

Bias, for mixed people is everywhere – there is honestly very little winning.

For example, on her personal Social Media page, TFP had people discussing the fact that Major Ben Daimio, who has been identifed as a mixed race person both by Ed Skrein and in press reports was ‘probably not mixed race’ and ‘they didn’t care, but probably not“- because it is hard for people to embrace mixed race people if they come from a homogenus background.

ON HER OWN SOCIAL MEDIA WALL.

(She still loves them, but come ON!)

That is bias against the concept of mixed race people – even if it comes from well respected and talented people.

It is still bias. 

It is ingrained in our various cultures that Mixed People signal the end of culture, when that is usually very far from the truth. Mixed Race people, TFP has found, in general, try harder to get those cultural representations correct- we have a lot to ‘prove’, that is the load we carry, every day.

That Ms. Asbille is proud to represent for Native Americans is not something that has been taken into consideration – what is important is that she participate in activities that the Native American Acting Community, and Mr. Beach deem worthy.

TFP imagines that he has a list.

Mr. Beach said that Native American actresses should not have to wake up and be slapped in the face by Ms. Asbille’s casting. 

Mr. Beach never envisioned what Ms. Asbille’s morning was, as a mixed raced person, to wake up to being personally attacked on the internet, being slapped in the face by the reasoning that she was not ‘enough’ to ‘count’.

Of course, he is the counter of all things.

However if the ‘greater’ NA Community is against ‘blood purity’ aka “Genetic Marker” tests – then the issue should be moot, especially as the IPCB – Indigenous People’s Council on Biocolonialism has this on their front page:

Here is a ‘still’ from the film WIND RIVER –

Ms. Asbille did not say she was 100% Native American – she says she has heritage from Eastern Band Cherokee. TFP does think she looks like she has ‘more’ in her DNA than Asian and Caucasian. 

To TFP, she looks ‘extra’ .

TFP is familiar with these issues, and what mixed race NA people could look like. The range of what appearance ‘could be’ is vast- it involves every sort of eye shape and color, skin tone, and hair shade and texture. She is familiar with this because her Father represented two Tribes.

 Her Father, who was not Native American ( he was Irish American) but who was a Tribal Judge and a lawyer for both the Abernaki tribe in Vermont, and the Schagticoke Tribe in Connecticut before he passed, made her aware of some of the issues facing the Tribes in question. She would drive him up to the Rez, talk to the Chief….

TFP is perhaps more aware of some of the issues facing the NA population than, say, the average person –  she is not an expert – but she is familiar – and this is what it comes down to:

The first Europeans who settled in America visited enacted tragedies upon the Native Americans.

This is not up for debate – they did it.

They raped. They murdered. They deliberately stole the children from Tribes, and sent them to schools where they were not allowed to speak their native language and they cut their hair. 

They deliberately removed them from their traditional lands and placed them on lands where nothing would grow. They spread contagion and death through smallpox deliberately. 

They sent them on the Trail of Tears that killed thousands. They used the Native American populations in ways that are unspeakable.

This was all deliberate.

The repercussions of what was done to NA Tribes is with us today and will honestly never be fixed unless America looks hard at itself and takes massive steps to improve the situations that keep NA people from thriving within modern America.

It was done by the White people and it was done as part of a concerted Government Effort because historically, White People like to take things that other people have.

Thus, many Native Americans – not all Native Americans, but many, will have strands of alternate DNA within their genes. In the 2010 Census, it was shown that nearly half of all Native Americans and Indigenous Alaskans claim to be of mixed race.

This does not negate their cultural identification or love of being Native American.

What it means is that their ancestors survived.

They did what they had to do. They may have fallen in love, they may have used what they had to escape what was worse. They may have had no choice in the matter. 

They were strong and proud and people of mixed heritage are living testaments to their strength and will to survive. They are , to a certain extent, definitive comment that walks and breathes that shows America no matter what happens- Native Americans are stronger than anything thrown at them by racist and sexist America.

They survived. Again, to reference what the Professor said above, Native American Identity is equally political and community driven, as it is racial.

There is the issue of tribal cards and what it means being part of a tribe – now, the rules of joining and substantiating a claim of heritage are strict. This does not account, on many levels for the sustained attack that the Native American population has had thrust on it. Many people left and did not look back.

Both for personal and for socio-economic reasons.

The fact that they left, does not negate their being Native American.

It does, in many cases affect their heirs attaining ‘tribal status’ or to being able to obtain a ‘card’. While there are issues with the ‘card’ system, it is the system we have currently in the United States and adjustments are being made constantly.

So if there is no ‘genetic marker’ test desired by the larger NA community – then what is the issue with Mr. Beach?

Well, like most actors – he wanted one of his friends to get the role.

TFP totally understands this inclination, everyone likes people they know to succeed.

 The point of representing the community through various types of activities is a valid one – but it is ‘sticky’ because sometimes people are not ‘joiners’, and sometimes younger actors really are just focused on their careers and not attending different events.

Community Awareness tends to grow as one ages, in TFP‘s observation.

Again, if Ms. Asbille is not in any way NA, TFP will jump right on that bandwagon and implore her to not take the role, as Mr. Skein did not take the role of Major Ben.

But what if she is Native American? 

What does the NA Community do with her then? 

No one is allowed to ‘swab’ anyone else to prove something – but let’s say she chooses to do it as a way to prove herself – because again, mixed race people continually must prove themselves – and it is totally and completely legit and she is definitively NA.

Where does it end?

Do they invite her participation at a greater level? Do they ‘court’ her as a potential Activist?

TFP is sure that that would be the greater end game to play. To involve her. Perhaps she will not like it and choose not to continue to participate, and it will make her not respond to Native American castings. Perhaps she will become involved on that community level.

However, as she and Chloe Bennet have stated – what they do as people, change their names, or color their hair – that does not negate what is in their blood, and Ms. Asbille will likely continue to represent as Native American. Certain people will again take issue – because she is mixed race.

The cycle begins again.

The optics of People of Color attacking other People of Color as to their ‘worthiness’ and what percentage they have in their DNA are bad. The writing of this blog or any blog  will not ameliorate this situation. 

However TFP felt this should be addressed.

Yes, there have been issues in the past with Elizabeth Warren and Johnny Depp – and those kinds of issues will play out again and again. Ms. Asbille is not taking on a role that was mired in trope as Mr. Depp did, she is taking on a role of a modern NA woman that will ostensibly be written as a nuanced piece, it is not the same as Mr. Depp’s playing Tonto, and it should not be compared as such.

(BTW TFP was in the Diversity Showcases for FOX and due to a scheduling issue with her scene partner – they had to go up on the night of the Native American showcase, so she is well aware that there are many and varied Native American talents out there, and she wishes there were more projects out there to showcase them.

Yes – the scheduling snaffoo was explained, as was the fact that we were not trying to represent as NA – and our scene was up last – to prevent any misunderstanding in that regard.

Anyway, she is fully aware of the greatness of the NA Acting community, and she wanted to acknowledge that. She is FULLY supportive of Native American heritaged people being cast as Native American)

Here is what TFP thinks- as a mixed raced person herself –  and one whose Family is mixed in multiple ways-

(her extended family includes people who are of Australian Aboriginal heritage, Asian heritage, Brazilian heritage, French Canadian heritage, African American heritage, White European heritage) 

When a Person of Color claims a certain heritage – she is inclined to believe them.

There is no real benefit to lying about heritage when you are mixed race – because to most people, you are not enough. Of anything. The more mixed you are, the more upset they seem to get.

Mixed raced people are Sisyphus going up the hill, again and again, only to have that giant boulder come crashing down on them, with the words “DOESN’T COUNT” emblazoned on the side of it.

People in this country like things to be clear cut. They like definitive answers and bright colors. They like things to be to be in absolutes. Good guy, bad woman. Locker room banter versus her emails. No shades of gray.

When you are dealing with mixed race people – things are not simple. They are messy. They are complicated. There are constant ‘tests’ from people who try and define what exactly you are. – so the question TFP leaves you with is –

When do we stop asking mixed raced people to prove how much they count?

When do we let them just be?

It’s a valid question.

Look, certain people have asked that the AAPI community turn on Ms. Asbille because they equate it to Ed Skrein being cast as Major Ben Daimio. 

Many have. It is in their purview. TFP cannot tell people what to do -but this is not the same situation as HELLBOY.

This is not a Caucasian playing a mixed raced Asian. This is a person of multiple heritages who – unless proved otherwise – should be believed. 

Let her do her job.

If it comes out she is not NA – that is something else entirely – if she embarrasses the NA community – again, that is something else entirely. However TFP does not think she is out to do that, she thinks Ms. Asbille will do her job.

Dismantling bias against people of mixed race is hard – people look at us and feel we are the reason that they are losing their culture. That the complexity of our ancestors survival which is written in our features threatens their way of life – and in such a way that we cannot be accepted for the many things that we are.

It is time for that to end- if we learn nothing from #Charlottesville and #HurricaneHarvey about the importance of sticking together and supporting one another, that would be a shame.

Representation is important and vital – but the judging of it, of one another, the quantifying and quizzing of mixed race people has had it’s time.

It is now upon mixed race people to reclaim it.