8 Mixed-race Americans at the 2018 Olympics

 
No event is more universal than the Olympics because it's a gathering of hundreds of countries, languages, and ethnicities. It is the most racially diverse event on Earth.

Individual Olympians who have mixed-race heritage are an embodiment of this melting pot and multicultural spirit.

Here are a few from the U.S. competing this year.



Hailey Langland
Snowboarding

At 17 years old, she is the youngest female out of the 244 Americans at the Games.



Jordan Greenway

Hockey

He is the first African-American hockey player in Olympic history.

Elana Meyers Taylor

Bobsledding

This is her 3rd Olympic Games. Professional sports runs in her family: Her dad was an NFL football player, whose parents were from Central America.



J.R. Celski

Speed Skating

Like Elana above, this is also his 3rd Olympic Games. Like another Olympian, who won 8 medals, he's also a speed skater who's also mixed White-Asian who's also from the same small city.

Madison Chock

Figure Skating

There's probably a stereotype that Hawaiians don't do anything winter-related, much less the Winter Olympics. But her dad is Hawaiian-Chinese who grew up in Hawaii (and her mom is White).

Jerica Tandiman

Speed Skating

The last Winter Olympics in the U.S. was in her hometown, which motivated her to start skating.

Kimani Griffin

Speed Skating

He was once a musician who performed at one of the world's most prestigious concert halls.

Chris Kinney

Bobsledding

That's his grandma and mom. He lives in Japan, where the grandmother is from, and has a degree in Japanese, which he's fluent in. The Asian-American website, Angry Asian Man, posted a list of Asian-Americans at 2018 Olympics, which did not include him.

I emailed them and asked if they could add him. They didn't reply. I emailed them again to ask if they're uncomfortable adding him because he's only quarter Asian or because he's half Black (anti-Black racism exists among Asians). Still no reply.

Every Asian on their list is either full Asian or half White. Is he not Asian enough for them? Or not White enough? (He's actually quarter White, because his grandpa is White, if that means anything).

Since they didn't respond to my emails, I can only assume this is an example of...

1. The stereotype that Whiteness is attractive, especially within Asian communities
2. Multiracials are often rejected by their racial groups because they're "not [insert race] enough" (in Chris Kinney's case, "not Asian enough").