Asians and Latinos walk a strange line when it comes to race in America–in the black/white binary, we’re not necessarily either one. So where do we fit as two groups in the “racial middle”? And how can these two groups learn from each other to strengthen each other’s presence and voice in the ongoing conversation about race in America? Maria Hinojosa talks to Hyphen Magazine editor Abigail Licad and Asian/Latin American Studies professor Dr. Jason Oliver Chang about what it means to be in the racial middle.

Abigail Licad is the editor in chief of Hyphen, an Asian American culture and politics magazine (www.hyphenmagazine.com). She immigrated with her family to the San Francisco Bay Area from the Philippines at age 13. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her master’s degree in literature from Oxford University. She has heard Filipinos referred to as “the Asian Mexicans” and totally loves it!

Jason Oliver Chang, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is Assistant Professor of History and Asian American Studies.  He earned his PhD from the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley in 2010. While there he received research support from the Center for Race and Gender, the Historical Society of Southern California, the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and several UC offices.  Before coming to UConn, Dr. Chang was a Lecturer for the Center for Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Chang also holds a Masters of Public Policy and Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he focused on the enforcement of immigration law at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Photo by Mohammed Moosa via Flickr.