concepts
type: Collection
type: ConceptGroup
member: hapa

concepts in race, ethnicity and society
type: Concept
narrower: hapa

hapa
type: Concept
broader: concepts in race, ethnicity and society
definition: Hapa is a term that is Hawai'ian in origin and loosely translates to “half” or “mixed.” It came into widespread use in the United States during the 1990s as a way to refer to people of multiracial Asian descent. Entering mainstream usage at a time when multiracial activism and visibility was reaching a zenith before the 2000 U.S. Census, hapa was adopted by people of multiracial Asian descent as a concise, novel, and affirmative way to claim an identity in the face of a U.S. racial schema that, until then, had few positive terms to accommodate them. [Source: Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia; Hapa]