When race and romance collide

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David*, 28, grew up in East Vancouver and went to Britannia Secondary, which he remembers to be “predominantly Asian.” He was mainly attracted to Asian women and dated a Chinese-Canadian woman for four years. He joined a fraternity in university and found that he began to feel generally more attracted to white women. After going on many dates with both white and Asian women, David met his fiancé on eHarmony and they have been dating for almost two years. His parents and grandparents are of Chinese descent and were born in Vietnam.

Johanna, 21, and Alvin, 23, both grew up in Vancouver. Johanna remembers her high school to be so racially divided, that they had two proms—an “Asian” prom and a “white” prom. Alvin said his high school was “90 percent Asian” and that Asians ruled the school, quite literally—the student council presidents for the few years he attended were Asian. Neither of them envisioned dating someone outside their own race in high school. They met through friends in university. They knew each other for over a year before they started dating. Johanna and Alvin have been dating for two years. Johanna’s parents are from the Czech Republic and Alvin’s parents are Chinese and from Indonesian.

Ray (age undisclosed) and Jamie*, 30, met in Vancouver three years ago at university, where they bonded over similar artistic and aesthetic viewpoints as well as “geeking out” with each other. They have been dating for almost three years. Ray is of Chinese descent. Ray and Jamie both grew up in Ontario. Others’ reactions to their androgynous appearances continue to be a subject of humorous and thoughtful discussion for Ray and Jamie. They are interested in issues of gender, race, queerness, and heteronormativity.

Samantha, 24, met her Japanese American fiancé three years ago online through an Asian cultural website while discussing Asian cuisines. She was born in Ontario, grew up in North Carolina, and then eventually came to Victoria and Vancouver to attend university. She fell in love with studying Asian cultures at a young age and is now doing her Masters degree in Asian Studies. Samantha has been attracted to Asian men ever since she can remember.

Stephen remembers being one of a handful of Chinese families in Parksville growing up. His parents operated a Chinese restaurant for years there. Stephen dated mostly white women in his youth, as well as a couple of Asian women. Now in his mid thirties, he is the father of a 18-month-old daughter with his white partner Kelly, who grew up in Coquitlam. They met and started dating in university in Victoria, split apart for a few years, and eventually got back together.

Alden Habacon became fascinated with issues of race and Asian masculinities and sexuality in university and has done research out of his own interest. Habacon is a Filipino Canadian who grew up in Regina, Winnipeg in the 70s. He moved to Vancouver when he was 16 years old. He is married to a Chinese Canadian woman, with whom he has a two-year-old son. His area of expertise is intercultural understanding and diversity initiatives.

As a comedian, performer, filmmaker, writer and a former host on CBC Radio One, Tetsuro Shigematsu has worked with and produced media. He is of Japanese descent and is married to an Iranian woman. He holds an Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and is currently pursuing his PhD in Education.

*Name has been changed