http://www.wtsp.com/news/transracial-ma ... /491290902
Ja Du, born a white male named Adam, now considers himself a Filipino. Turns out the purple ride he drives around in is called a Tuk Tuk, an Asian-derived vehicle used for public transit in the Philippines he says.
Ja Du is part of a small, but growing community of people who considers themselves transracial. It refers to someone born one race, but identifies with another.
Sound weird? Not to them. Ja Du says he grew up enjoying Filipino food, events and the overall culture.
“Whenever I’m around the music, around the food, I feel like I’m in my own skin,” he said.
“I’d watch the history channel sometimes for hours you know whenever it came to that and you know nothing else intrigued me more but things about Filipino culture.”
If you look on Facebook, where we found Ja Du, groups dubbed transracial are popping up with dozens of members.
Dr. Stacey Scheckner is a licensed psychologist with a B.A. from Washington University, plus M.A. and doctorate from Florida State. She hasn’t had a client who wanted to change their race but has worked with many clients wanting to change their body in some way.
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Ja Du hasn’t told his family yet because he believes they will laugh at the notion of changing your ethnicity. The public was very critical of Dolezal and might be for him as well, but Scheckner believes everyone should be more understanding.
“If that’s who they are and they want to celebrate it and enjoy it, then you have to think what harm is it doing? All they want to do is throw themselves into that culture and celebrate it.”
“I think before we get offended, we need to take a step back and think about what is the harm.”
Many might question Ja Du’s intentions or say that he is a perfect case of cultural appropriation.
He knows this can be a problem, but says he’s not trying to take advantage of anything.
“I believe people will [take advantage] just like other people have taken advantage of their identity to get their way, but the difference between me and them is that I don’t want that. I think that we all have the freedoms to pursue happiness in our own ways,” he said.
That brings up another major change with Ja Du. He is also transsexual and is considering changing his gender as well. He has spoken to his mom and family about that.
