{"id":238105,"date":"2026-05-20T15:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238105\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:40:08","slug":"a-viral-nyc-meetup-for-wasians-turned-into-a-larger-argument-about-race-and-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238105\/","title":{"rendered":"A viral NYC meetup for Wasians turned into a larger argument about race and representation"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Source<\/a>]<\/p>\n

A social meetup for Wasians, promoted through community page Half Asian Spring<\/a>, drew more than 3,000 people to Central Park\u2019s Sheep Meadow on May 10, where attendees filmed street interviews, joined celebrity look-alike contests and celebrated shared experiences of growing up mixed-race. After videos from the event spread online, critics questioned why a gathering tied to broader \u201cHalf Asian\u201d branding focused almost entirely on people who are part white.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf Asian\u201d or just Wasian?<\/p>\n

Much of the criticism focused on the difference between Half Asian Spring\u2019s broader branding and the meetup\u2019s Wasian-centered promotion. While event listings described the meetup as open to mixed Asians and allies, critics said the promotional videos and flyers told a different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single video posted to this account only mentions Wasians,\u201d TikTok creator Welcometomadsworld<\/a> pointed out. \u201cEvery single flyer only mentions Wasians. It\u2019s only marketed as a Wasian meetup.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The timing of the event during AAPI Heritage Month intensified those reactions. \u201cInstead of centering and celebrating your Asian heritage, you\u2019re celebrating the fact of your whiteness and internalizing and centering that whiteness during a month that is made for Asian heritage,\u201d TikToker Yourblasianprincess<\/a> said. She also criticized the meetup for excluding \u201cHispanic people slash Latino people who are also mixed with Asian and just Asian people in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who gets seen online<\/p>\n

Several viral clips from the event asked attendees to name their favorite Wasian celebrities or compare public figures during look-alike contests. Among the celebrities highlighted include Laufey, Alysa Liu, Hudson Yang and Charles Melton, among others. Black-Asian and Latino-Asian public figures rarely receive the same level of attention online or in entertainment, Welcometomadsworld said.<\/p>\n

Trending on NextShark: A viral NYC meetup for Wasians turned into a larger argument about race and representation<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only mixed-race Asian representation that exists on this scale is Wasian representation,\u201d TikTok creator Suyuscope<\/a> explained. \u201cThe closer to whiteness you are in your mixed identity and in your appearance, the more legible and accepted your mixed identity is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

This dynamic reflects a measurable difference in how different mixed-race groups experience social acceptance and proximity to whiteness. A 2015 Pew Research Center study<\/a> found that white and Asian biracial adults were more likely to say they had \u201ca lot in common\u201d with white people than Asian people, 60% compared with 33%. The same study found they were more likely to say they felt accepted \u201cvery well\u201d by white people than Asian people, 62% compared with 47%.<\/p>\n

The \u201chard W\u201d debate<\/p>\n

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In his Substack essay titled \u201cStart Wasian Hate?<\/a>\u201d, Latino-Asian writer Aki Lee Camargo questioned why \u201cWasian\u201d had become a highly visible online identity category while terms such as \u201cAsian American\u201d and \u201cAAPI\u201d emerged from pan-Asian political organizing and anti-racist activism in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWasia\u2019s popularity is insidious because the identity will always be defined in relation to whiteness. You can\u2019t be Wasian without the hard \u2018W,\u2019\u201d Camargo wrote. He then criticized what he described as phenotype-based representation surrounding Wasian visibility online. \u201cBut representation of what, exactly? A phenotype? Because if Wasian identity begins and ends with aesthetics, that\u2019s eugenics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historian and creator Kahlil Greene raised similar concerns<\/a> in his piece \u201cNYC\u2019s \u2018Wasian Wonderland\u2019 Shows How Mixed-Race Hype Still Centers Whiteness.\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s being celebrated here is not just mixedness, but a specific kind of mixedness that remains closely tied to whiteness,\u201d Greene noted.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe just wanted community\u201d<\/p>\n

For many attendees, the meetup reflected a shared experience of growing up mixed-race rather than an attempt to exclude others. Some described finally seeing large numbers of people with similar family backgrounds gathered in one place.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing proud of being Wasian is not the same as saying I am proud to be white,\u201d one Reddit commenter wrote<\/a>. \u201cIt means I am proud of this specific combination of white and Asian and the experience that comes with existing in between categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some supporters argued the backlash increasingly turned into hostility toward Wasians generally rather than scrutiny of the organizers or event branding. \u201cI\u2019m upset that wasians are being shit on from every angle right now whether they went to the event or not,\u201d one commenter wrote.<\/p>\n

The Rebel Yellow reached out to one of the meetup\u2019s organizers for comment and will update this story if a response is provided.<\/p>\n

This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter \u2014 a bold newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.<\/p>\n

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