Afro-Asians

Korean and Black baby

The term Blasian refers to those of mixed Black and Asian ancestry or are in a relationship consisting of a black and asian individual. The origin of the term "Blasian" might originate from the blending of "Black" and "East/South Asian". Naturally this blend includes a mix of Ethiopian/Somali/Haitian/Egyptian/Kenyan and other sub-group descendents with Chinese/Indian/Afghan/Turkic/Mongolian and other heritages.

The historical term for these unions are known as 'Jotawa' or 'hapa popolo' . "Popolo" once exposed to western civilization, eventually became a a deragatory term for someone who was of half asian, half black. Just as 'hapa haole' became a deragatory term for those half asian and half white.

Afro Asian is a term used more for those who are particularly of African or African-American descent. Census records show that Black-Asian couples are increasingly common worldwide, especially on the West Coast of the United States^{[citation needed]}.

History of Blasians

In Africa

Indians have been visiting East Africa for centuries, though substantial immigration did not occur until modern times. Indian traders were operating in 18th century Mozambique.1 Wealthy Indians lived in Swahili coastal cities in the 19th century.2 During the same period, British colonialists brought laborers from India to East Africa to build the Uganda-Kenya railway. Indian immigration to South, Central and East Africa continued into the 20th century.

Today, many African Indians are businessmen. Some African countries with Indian populations are South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Rhodesia and Zaire. Relations between the Asian immigrants and the African indigenes were not always smooth. Swahilis opposed the movement of Indian merchants into the interior of Africa, but to no avail. The centuries-old monopoly held by Swahilis over the coastal-inland trade was eventually broken by Indian pioneer traders.

For their part, many South Asian merchants held negative attitudes against Africans. Bharati, a professor of anthropology at Syracuse university, examines Asian/African race relations in his 1972 book The Asians in East Africa.

Despite the friction between Indians and indigenous Africans, there were unions between Asians and Africans. In his work, Bharati interviewed many subjects on the topic of Afro-Asians and relations between Asian men and African women. He believed that there were about 5000 people of mixed African-Asian origin in East Africa, most of them along the coast and in Zanzibar.

The Afro-Asian intermingling trend at the time was an inbalanced exchange, typically involving an Asian male and an African female, and almost never the converse.

Blasians In Entertainment

In the past few years, blasians have been making a mark in the entertainment industry, most recently in careers that extend from creative arts. Celebrities such as Kimora Lee Simmons, Tyson Beckford and Amerie Rogers, have paved the way for not only blasians, but Asians and African Americans looking to leave a mark on our mainstream. According to King magazine, constructed by the opinions of their readers, blasian models are increasingly becoming the next most desired models next to that of the Victoria's Secret angels.

Other Terms for Black and Asian

File:Blackplanet.jpg

Crystal Gonzalez, "I've never imagined being anybody else. Being black and asian is the ultimate."---Blackplanet.com

The following terms may be regionalisms or neologisms.

Blackanese (Black/Chinese, Black/Vietnamese, Black/Japanese, Black/Saipanese, etc)
Blackorean/Blorean/Borean (Black/Korean)
Blackapina/Blackapino (Black/Filipino)
Afro-Filipino (African American/African and Filipino)
Afri-Asian/Afro-Asian/Afrasian (African-Asian)
Blietnamese/Afretnamese/Vietnamegro (Black/Vietnamese)
Cablinasian (Caucasian, black, Indian, and Asian) Coined by Tiger Woods, professional golfer
Negrasian (Black and Asian)
Chinegro/Chigro (Chinese/Black)
Blashasho (black and shasho)
Blindonesian (Black and Indonesian)[Pronounced like "in" not like "blind"]

External links

Notable internet chat groups

Reliable Blasian pride websites