● Growing up Asian but not even fully Asian was and still is a challenge in America.

To this
day I still feel like I can never be understood right away based on how I look to others. I
am Chinese and Native American but have been mistaken by other races as a different
ethnicity. Some guesses that people would make include: Malaysian, Mongolian,
Filipino, Mexican, and this might sound crazy but yes black. Being adopted does not
help me understand and get closer to who my biological parents are and where they are
from. The topic was not even brought up by my adoptive family. However, as I was
growing up I had a strong feeling that I looked different from my family. In school my
classmates would constantly tell me that “Amber why are you a different color than your
mom? Is that really your older sister, why do you not look like her?”.
● I had the opportunity to visit China over the summer in both 2008 and 2014. There was
where I faced a lot of prejudices too because I did not look like my mom (adoptive
mother). I was faced with an incident where Chinese people automatically assumed I
could not speak Chinese and talked badly about my mom right in front of me. They
accused her of “getting married to a black person and to have the nerve to do that…..”
thinking back on this what they said still upsets me. I stood up for my mom and surprised
people with my native Chinese accent by saying: “Sorry to interrupt your musings but my
mom married a Chinese guy and she adopted me which is why I look different.” They
were too stunned to even speak and stopped talking right then knowing that I could
understand Chinese.
● One thing that makes Americans stare at me in confusion would be the color of my skin.
Being of a darker skin tone still makes people do a double-take and scrutinize where I
am from. Having a full Chinese last name provides people with a certain predisposition
idea of what I should look like. With ‘Li’ as a last name and not ‘Lee’ people hope to see
someone who is fully Chinese with pale skin and straight black hair. However, I have tan
skin, dark brown naturally curly hair, as well as a more curvy figure.
● Being adopted into a Chinese family is actually quite hard for me. The racism I have
experienced has just now come into familial conversations and even now is downplayed
because my family likes to not think about certain things. After graduating college, I have
learned to have more confidence in myself and my abilities. Yes, I look different from my
adoptive family but I am beautiful the way I am. I have kept my ability to speak fluent
Mandarin by speaking to my parents using the language I grew up with.

Thoughts on social injustices articles

● The Nazis had their own terminology for what they deemed as a “humane method of
killing”.
○ People should be unaware that they are going to be killed.
○ Perpetrators should not touch, see, or hear those who are being killed die
○ The death blow should leave out any visual harm on the victim's body
○ Deathblow should be instantaneous