By Alexei Hong, 14, LACES

“I am half-Chinese and half-Jewish. It’s weird writing about being mixed, mainly because I have no problems with it. My parents never forced one culture over another on me. I have friends of different ethnicities. I feel, in a way, like the middleman between two cultures. I think because of the way my parents raised me and the company I keep, I have grown to be more tolerant of other cultures.
I don’t really feel mixed. Maybe because I don’t come from families that were culturally involved. My Jewish grandparents weren’t into going to temple or anything like that. My Chinese grandparents never forced the culture on my dad and they, like many other first-generation families, wanted to live the American dream.

I’m an ignored minority
People sometimes ask me if I have problems being of mixed races and ethnicities. I always say that I have no problems with it, but others may because they don’t agree on mixed marriages or mixed children. The largest inconvenience I ever have is being an ignored minority, especially at school.
Maybe, in addition to Young Black Scholars and Young Asian Scholars, schools should have Young Mixed Scholars. Personally, I believe that the scholars groups spend more time isolating than intergrating. Why not offer Young Human Scholars as well? I also can’t stand those applications that ask for your race. I know that they want to have records of ethnicities, but it is unfair to all the interracial kids who must choose which ethnicity to mark down.
I think people need to recognize that there are a lot of mixed people out there who are being ignored and pigeon-holed into identifying their many ethnicities. Instead of ignoring them, we should use them as an example that racial unity and love is possible.”