Don’t Call Me “Honyeol”
Throughout the years, there has been debate about whether or not to use specific terms like “hapa” and “honyeol” to refer to people mixed with White and Asian. As these terms grow in popularity, this issue brings more questions and various opinions from people from the mixed-race community. While many people believe that “hapa is a slur and should be retired” and that it is “born of racist closed-mindedness,” there are also many members that disagree; one example is author Alex Laughlin who believes that these terms should be used as it “perfectly fits” and makes her feel “remarkably unspecial” (Johnson & Laughlin). I argue that Laughlin disregards the historical aspects of these terms and does not take into consideration the use of these terms in different contexts/connotations; as a mixed-race youth myself, I believe that these terms are harmful and should not be used.
As an American society, we love to put labels on everything; it’s a way we are able to reflect and affect how we view our identities as well as others. Besides the common labels regarding ethnicity like “White”, “Asian”, “Black”, etc…, there are more specific labels like “Honyeol” and “Hapa” that are used to refer to people of “mixed-blood”.
Originating in the 1900s, the terms “honyeol” and “hapa” were created to refer to the children of Korean and Japanese women and the US military personnel; they were derogatory labels to distinguish the “mixed-blood” children from the rest of the monoracial population to remind them that they didn’t belong to their community and that they were “dirty” in the others’ eyes.
With the more recent growing populations of mixed children due to the increase in marriage migrants from Southeast Asia, the narrative of these derogatory terms have changed to refer to “multicultural” people. Despite having a history of being used to leave out and neglect mixed-race people, the terms “honyeol” and “hapa” are overused and have been normalized by not only the single-raced population (White or Asian) but also the people of this community themselves.
The overuse of this term among the mixed-race is rooted in the idea that it helps this community have a sense of their identity and have something they can refer to themselves rather than the broad term of “mixed-race.” One reason why mixed-race children have such a hard time finding their identities is because of the labels created by the United States government itself. In American education, the question regarding race and ethnicity is asked among students, the options usually being White, American Indian, Asian, Black/African American, and Pacific Islander. When asked this question, mixed-race children would have to differentiate themselves and choose one of their identities from the other; this is why discovering labels like “honyeol” and “hapa” came to them almost like a blessing.
An example of someone who believes in the use of these terms is mixed-race author Alex Laughlin who discusses these terms/phrases used directed toward this community and whether or not the term “hapa” should be used. The author grew up having difficulty and confusion when trying to form her identity, so she believes that the use of the term “hapa” connects her to a “larger racial demographic” as it is more accurate; she asks another Hapa about this term, in which they agreed, commenting that it is more fitting than “Amerasian” or “Eurasian” as they don’t think of themselves as “half Asian and half white” but instead “as a whole…” (Laughlin).
Subsequently, Laughlin argues that the use of these terms/labels assist all mixed-race people and believes that people who belong to the “Hapa” community should use it to their advantage. Although many people in this community agree with Laughlin, she fails to recognize that the use of this derogatory term causes people to feel disconnected and outcasted from their various cultural backgrounds due to this label, especially when the term is used by people who don’t belong to this community (single-raced people of White or Asian).
I argue that these terms should not be used to refer to my community because the term is widely used to outcast people of mixed race rather than creating an inclusive term. As other members of this community including myself have had history in which these terms are used negatively, I will reveal my experience with this term and how it is used to remind me that I am not “one of them.”
Being very involved in the Korean community, I have always grown up with a big Korean population. Whether it was at school or church, I surrounded myself with a majority of Korean people. Despite this, I am grounded in both my cultures, both European and Korean. I would never believe that I identified as “more Korean” because of my community, as my father and his family had raised me to be proud of my Polish and German identity. I always believed I was a great blend of both cultures. As I did not understand the meaning behind the government questions regarding race when I was younger, I always dismissed the seriousness of it. It wasn’t until I went to Korea, in which I experienced being called a “honyeol.” I didn’t know what it meant at the time as I was 8 years old; so, when I asked my mother what a “honyeol” was, she was shocked and disappointed to hear that label come out of my mouth. Ever since then, I could always hear it when said in a room. Hearing Korean people ask me “Are you a honyeol?” and “why is she good at Korean, she’s literally a honyeol; she needs to stop” were unfortunately frequent. This term always reminds me that no matter how fluent I am in the Korean language or how cultured I am, I will never look the part; it reminds me that I would never be “one of them.”
Another example derives from the blog “Kimchi Mamas” in which she describes her experience as a “honyeol” and how it took her time to understand and normalize this term. As she too was aware of the negative connotation this term had, she was shocked to hear her mother refer to her as one when speaking to other mothers. As she had read the book Ten Thousand Sorrow by Elizabeth Kim in which the term is described as a “derogatory word to call a Korean person who was racially mixed with another ethnicity” she was perplexed when the “loving mothers, standing around” were, “using the words to refer to their bright beautiful children.”
I understand where Laughlin is coming from, as I have struggled with finding my identity as well. When asked what my ethnicity is, I agree that referring to myself as a “honyeol” is easier to explain than maybe saying “i’m mixed with White and Korean” but I believe that there are better ways to approach it.
I believe that these derogatory terms should not be used, but as many people who are part of this community have such a deep connection with these labels I believe that there should be standards or unspoken rules regarding who can use them and normalizing other terms that don’t have a negative connotation, and a goal to outcast mixed-people.
To come to an agreement, I argue that only people of our community should be able to use these terms; single-race people of just White or Asian should not be able to use these terms to refer to us. Single-race people will never know what it is like to be mixed-race and how these terms can affect one’s identity (good or bad); therefore, these terms should not be utilized by them. As a “honyeol” myself, I don’t want other people in my community to go through the same struggles of constant outcasting and struggle with identity; I want them to express themselves and their identities in every way possible without having terms like these to restrict them.
Another approach to slowly removing the vast use of this terminology can be using different labels that do not have historically negative backgrounds, like the term “Wasian”. Although it is less specific than “hapa” (mix of Japanese and White) and “honyeol” (mix of Korean and White) as it just means a mix of White and Asian, I think it will be better to incorporate this loose term to discard the trouble the terms “hapa” and “honyeol” have on the rest of the community.
Bibliography
Johnson, A. (2016, August 8). Who Gets To Be “Hapa”? NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/08/08/487821049/who-gets-to-be-hapa
Kimchi Mamas: Korea’s own word for Hapa: Honyol. (2011, June 12). https://kimchimamas.typepad.com/kimchi_mamas/2011/06/koreas-own-word-for-hapa-honyol.html
Laughlin, A. (2014, December 15). “Half Asian”? “Half White”? No — “Hapa.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/12/15/370416571/half-asian-half-white-no-hapa
