A project of Brooklyn Historical Society
 
 
 
 

Themes: Race & Ethnicity

Asha Sundararaman
Oral History

"I dated a white guy and I felt very not-white. And I dated an Indian guy. I felt very not-Indian. So I’m kind of like, eh, it’s in between. Everything is just in between."

Racial Colonies
Article
A 1920 map of Brooklyn showing where various ethnic groups were living.
Sneak Preview: Black Folk Don't Season Two
Article
"Sometimes you substitute 'Black' for 'lower class' and they're not the same.
Lenge Hong
Oral History

"When I would say Eurasian, nobody would know what I was talking about. So I would go I’m half Chinese, and half Scottish - which I actually still do. I went through stages in my life of different emotional reactions to that question: What are you?"

PHOTOS: Talking about the Crown Heights Riot
Article
Photographs of a discussion about how we remember the Crown Heights Riot of August 1991.
Mixed Kids Are the Cutest!?
Discussion Topic

When I tell people that I am working on a project about mixed-heritage families, people often respond with something like “Oh, mixed babies are so cute!” or “Mixed-race people are so beautiful!” This is meant to be a compliment - but it's also stereotyping (and objectifying) a large, diverse group of people. 

What do you think?

The Hapa Project: A multiracial identity art project created by artist Kip Fulbeck
Article

Join a discussion about what it means to be Hapa. Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for “half,” Hapa has since been embraced as a term of pride by many whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Island descent.

Jungle Fever 20 Years Later
Article

Watch Spike Lee’s iconic 1991 movie about mixed-heritage relationships, Jungle Fever, and hear how three panelists respond to the movie 20 years later.

20 Years Since the Crown Heights Riot of August 1991
Article

Listen as historians and community members respond to oral history interviews with Crown Heights residents recorded in the 1990s and 2010. What’s changed? What’s stayed the same?

What Are You? a discussion about mixed heritage
Article

Participate in this discussion about mixed heritage co-sponsored by Loving Day, a global network fighting racial prejudice through education and building multicultural community.

Voices of Mixed Heritage: Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations
Teacher Resource

Voices of Mixed Heritage: Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations is an interdisciplinary curriculum designed for grades 6–12. We invite students and educators to engage with the topic of mixed heritage and identity in the United States from the mid-19th century to the present.

Pages