Ethnic Identification among Mixed Children in a Post-colonial Asian City: A Case in Hong Kong

This paper attempts to discuss how the identification of multi-racial/ethnic children is influenced by their parents’ race/ethnicity in the context of the post-colonial perspective in East Asia. By using data from the Hong Kong 2016 by-census, we have illustrated the patterns of multi-racial/ethnic children’s ethnic identification when either father or mother is Chinese in a post-colonial context. We identified three major patterns. First, the ethnic composition of parents, especially when they involve a Chinese (the majority group) or South Asian parent, has a strong relationship with how the parents identify their children’s ethnicity. Second, colonial racial schemas seem to influence the ethnic identification of children to a large extent. Third, the patterns show the relatively disadvantaged status of South Asian identity under the post-colonial Hong Kong context.