An Amerasian may refer to a person born in East or Southeast Asia to an East Asian or Southeast Asian mother and a U.S. military father. Other terms used include War babies or G.I. Babies.
Several countries in East and Southeast Asia have significant populations of Amerasians, reflecting a history of US military presence within those two respective regions. These include Okinawa (Japan), South Korea, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The latter once had the largest US air and naval bases outside the US mainland.The Forgotten Amerasians. Retrieved on 25 September 2021.
Definitions
The term was coined by novelist Pearl S. Buck and was formalized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Many people were born to East or Southeast Asian women and U.S. servicemen during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The official definition of Amerasian came about as a result of Public Law 97-359, enacted by the 97th Congress of the United States on October 22, 1982.
According to the United States Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), an Amerasian is: "[A]n alien who was born in Korea, Kampuchea, Laos, Thailand or Vietnam after December 31, 1950 and before October 22, 1982 and was fathered by a U.S. citizen."from instructions for INS Form 360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er) or Special Immigrant The Amerasian Foundation (AF) and Amerasian Family Finder (AFF) define an Amerasian as "Any person who was fathered by a citizen of the United States (an American serviceman, American expatriate or U.S. Government Employee (Regular or Contract)) and whose mother is or was, an Asian National.".
The term is commonly applied to half Japanese children fathered by a U.S. serviceman based in Japan, as well as half Korean children fathered by veterans of the Korean War or stationary soldiers in South Korea. The term is also applied to children of Filipinos and American rulers during the U.S. colonial period of the Philippines (still used until today) and children of Thais and U.S. soldiers during World War II and the Vietnam War. The U.S. had bases in Thailand during the Vietnam War.
Amerasian should not be interpreted as a fixed racial term relating to a specific category of multiracial groups (such as Mestizo, Mulatto, Eurasian or Afro-Asians). The racial strain of the American parent of one Amerasian may be different from that of another Amerasian; it may be White, Black, Hispanic or even Asians in general. In the latter case, it is conceivable that the Amerasian could be fathered by a person who shares the same racial stock, but not necessarily the same nationality.
In certain cases, the term could also apply to the progency of American females, who engaged in professions such as military nursing for East and Southeast Asian males. Mixed-race children, whatever the occupational background or prestige of their parents, have suffered social stigma. With genetic relation to U.S. soldiers, Amerasians have faced additional exclusion by perceived association to being military enemies of East and Southeast Asian countries. This stigma extended to the mothers of Amerasians, the majority of whom were Asian, causing many of the Asian mothers to abandon their Amerasian children. The abandonment of both parents led to a large proportion of orphaned Amerasians.
Cambodia The Amerasian Immigration Act included Amerasians whose fathers were U.S. citizens and whose mothers were nationals of Kampuchea (Cambodia).Amerasian children. Retrieved on 25 September 2021. As many as 10,000 Cambodians of mixed Amerasian ancestry may have been fathered by US servicemen.https://www.loc.gov/item/powmia/pwmaster_136915/ AMERASIAN CHILDREN IN CAMBODIA. Retrieved on 25 September 2021.
Japan
According to one estimate, around 5,000 to 10,000 Amerasian babies had been born in Japan from 1945 to 1952. Data from the Japanese Welfare Ministry from July 1952, on the other hand, revealed that only 5,013 Japanese Amerasian children were born in all of Japan. Masami Takada from the Welfare Ministry put an exaggerated estimate of 150,000 – 200,000. Another investigation by the Welfare Ministry was conducted again in August 1953, this time them revising the number to reveal that only 3,490 half-castes of American fathers and Japanese mothers had been born during the 7 years of American occupation of Japan, which lasted from 1945 – 1952. Some of the children were abandoned and raised in orphanages such as the Elizabeth Saunders Home in Oiso, Japan.
The actual number of Japanese Amerasians is unknown. Officially, the number of 10,000 Amerasians in Japan would be an upper limit. Some contemporary writers had however reported rumors of 200,000 while actual numbers had been found to be 5,000, possibly 10,000, no more than 20,000 allowing for underestimates. Of those fathered by American soldiers. Their presumed "colors" were 86.1% "white," 11.5% "black" and 2.5% "unknown."
Hāfu
Today, many Japanese Amerasians go by the term Hāfu, which is used to refer to a person who is half Japanese and half non-Japanese ancestry.
Amerasian School of Okinawa In Okinawa, The Amerasian School of Okinawa was formed to educate children of two different cultures. The school population includes Japanese Amerasians.The Amerasian School of Okinawa Retrieved on 24 September 2021.AmerAsian School in Okinawa Retrieved on 24 September 2021.
Laos The Amerasian Immigration Act included Amerasians whose fathers were U.S. citizens and whose mothers were nationals of Laos.Chapter 9 - Amerasian Immigrants. Retrieved on 25 September 2021. The number of Laotian Amerasians is currently unknown.
Philippines
The Forgotten Amerasians Since 1898, when the United States annexed the Philippines from Spain, there were as many as 21 U.S. bases and 100,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there. The bases closed in 1992 leaving behind thousands of Amerasian children. There are an estimated 52,000 Amerasians in the Philippines. According to an academic research paper presented in the U.S. (in 2012) by a Philippines Amerasian college research study unit, the number could be a lot more, possibly reaching 250,000, this is due the fact almost all generations of Amerasians intermarried with other Amerasians and Filipino natives.Mixed Marriage...Interreligious, Interracial, Interethnic By Dr. Robert H. Schram The newer Amerasians from the United States would add to the already older settlement of peoples from other countries in the Americas that happened when the Philippines was under Spanish rule.Stephanie Mawson, 'Between Loyalty and Disobedience: The Limits of Spanish Domination in the Seventeenth Century Pacific' (Univ. of Sydney M.Phil. thesis, 2014), appendix 3. The Philippines once received immigrants from Spanish-colonized Panama, Peru,"Second Book of the Second Part of the Conquests of the Filipinas Islands, and Chronicle of the Religious of Our Father, St. Augustine" (Zamboanga City History) "He (Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera) brought a great reënforcements of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom." and Mexico; which are all countries in the Americas.
Unlike their counterparts in other countries, American-Asians or Amerasians in the Philippines remain impoverished and neglected. A study by the University of the Philippines' Center for Women Studies found that many Amerasians have experienced some form of abuse and/or domestic violence. The findings cited cases of racial, gender and class discrimination that Amerasian children and youth suffer from strangers, peers, classmates and teachers. The study also said black Amerasians seem to suffer more from racial and class discrimination than their white-descended counterparts.
Two-thirds of Amerasian children are raised by single mothers, others by relatives and non-relatives. 6% live on their own or in institutions, and 90% were born out of wedlock. It was reported in 1993 that prostitutes are increasingly Amerasian (especially black amerasian females), and frequently children of prostitutes who are caught in a cycle that transcends generations.Feminism and Women's Studies: Prostitution
Legal action In 1982, the U.S. passed the Amerasian Immigration Act, giving preferential immigration status to Amerasian children born during the Vietnam Conflict. The act did not apply to Amerasians born in the Philippines. They can become United States citizens only if claimed by their fathers; most fathers fail to do so. To become citizens of the United States, Filipino Amerasians must be able to show proof of parentage by a U.S. citizen before they turn eighteen years old; most are unable to do so before that cut off age.
A class-action suit was filed in 1993 on their behalf in the International Court of Complaints in Washington, DC, to establish Filipino American children's rights to assistance. The court denied the claim, ruling that the children were born to unmarried women who provided sexual services to U.S. service personnel in the Philippines and who were therefore engaged in illicit acts of prostitution. Such illegal activity could not be the basis for any legal claim.
In 2012, the number of Amerasians descended from American servicemen in the Philippines or “G.I. babies” was estimated to be around 250,000.
South Korea
Since the Korean War, there has been a significant population of Amerasians in South Korea. Many Amerasians were born into "Camptowns" which were established by the South Korean government. The women in these Camptowns were affected by the post-war poverty and turned to prostitution with American soldiers. This perpetuated the stereotype that children born in Camptowns were mothered by prostitutes. The South Korean government never viewed Korean Amerasians as Korean citizens but encouraged the foreign adoption of mixed South Korean babies. In 1953 the United States Congress passed the Refugee Relief Act, which allowed 4000 Amerasians to emigrate to the US for adoption.Background Information about Amerasians. Retrieved on 25 September 2021. This group became commonly known as Korean Adoptees. They were part of the International adoption of South Korean children that made up roughly 160,000 adoptees.
Amerasian Christian Academy The Amerasian Christian Academy still educates Amerasian children today in Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea.Amerasian Christian Academy. Retrieved on 25 September 2021.
Taiwan US soldiers fathered children in Taiwan at the end of World War II. Today there are an estimated 1,000 Taiwanese Amerasians. Over 200,000 American soldiers in Korea and Vietnam visited Taiwan for rest and relaxation between 1950 and 1975.THE SONG OF AMERASIANS. Retrieved on 25 September 2021.
Thailand
In Thailand, Amerasian children are dubbed as Luk khrueng or half children in the Thai language. These Amerasians were fathered by US soldiers who took part in the Vietnam War.In Thailand, Biracial Is Hip -- Amerasians Are Stars, Pushing Soap On TV, Acting And Singing Retrieved on 25 September 2021. At the height of the Vietnam War, 50,000 GIs were based in Thailand. Retrieved on 25 September 2021. The Pearl S. Buck Foundation estimated around 5,000-8,000 Thai Amerasians. Some migrated to the United States under the 1982 Amerasian Immigration Act. An unknown number were left behind.Luuk Khreung: The Vietnam War's Forgotten Legacy in Thailand Retrieved on 25 September 2021. "I had trouble at school. I was teased and bullied a lot because of my skin color," says entertainer Morris Kple Roberts, who had an African American father and a Thai mother.
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