In the USA, the popular term ‘Blasian’ is commonly applied to people of mixed black and Asian heritage. It is generally used to describe mixed-race people of black African-American and Chinese origin, although it can be applied to other Asia–Pacific mixes, including Korean, Vietnamese and Indian. American President Barack Obama and the golfer Tiger Woods are good examples.
While in the USA the focus has been mostly on the biological roots of a person’s mixed heritage and its impact on an individual’s identity, in the UK the term ‘Blasian’ can be applied to a new hybrid ethnic identity rooted in the mixing of black and Asian cultures. Thus it is based more on social than biological factors. ‘Blasians’ in this context refers to young British individuals of South Asian origin — usually from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan — who develop new identities most closely associated with black African-Caribbean culture.
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