AleXa Shares She Experienced Racism While Growing Up in The United States
AleXa recently guested on Eric Nam's podcast 'The K-Pop Daebak Show' and answered various questions about her life and her latest album. One of the questions Eric asked her was, "What was it like for you growing up? Your mother is Korean, your father is Russian. So you're half-white, half-Asian. What was that like growing up in Oklahoma? Did people see you as the 'Asian Girl' or the token 'hapa' girl?"
AleXa answered, "That's really an interesting question because how people perceive me has definitely changed over the years because living in Tulsa, Oklahoma I was subjected to racism quite a bit. I was seen as an Asian living there, and so whether it's just people in the street or people that came into my workplace."
"Like I remember, one place where I worked, I quit because my boss had constantly made under-the-table Asian racist comments to me; said like some slander words about my eyes as a joke. And I was like 'Hahaha, you're so funny, I quit. Goodbye,'" she added.
The solo artist continued, "My dad told me that there's this one time, he was taking me to the supermarket when I was just a baby. And so he was pushing me around the cart, and then this older lady comes to him and says 'Oh, is that your child?' and he's like 'Yeah.' And then she's like, 'Well, don't you know it's a sin to mix the races?'"
After sharing that, Eric Nam went, "Oh my god!" AleXa then stated that when she was growing up, she allowed herself to be associated with being Asian more since that's what her appearance is. But she was never culturally in touch. "I'm sure, if you ask a lot of mixed people this, you kind of always feel like it's an identity crisis, you don't know where you belong," she commented.
Despite the racism she experienced, AleXa shared, "But growing up in Tulsa, it was fun. You know when I was a kid, we played with other kids in the neighborhood and everything. It was a very quaint, very fun and joyful childhood."
AleXa is a child of mixed Korean and Russian heritage who grew up in the United States, particularly in Tulsa, Oklahoma where her parents met. Her mother is a South Korean who was adopted when she was five, while her father is a Russian who's originally from Queens, New York, and moved to Tulsa for work.
She competed in various competitions like Soompi's Rising Legends in 2016 in collaboration with JYP Entertainment and 2017 with Cube Entertainment. Although she ranked No. 1 in the dance category for both years, she didn't' sign in either of the agencies and instead joined ZB Label.
AleXa made her debut on October 19, 2019, with the single 'Bomb,' and released her first extended play 'Do or Die' on February 24 this year. And then, last October 21, she returned with a new mini-album titled 'DECOHERENCE,' featuring its title track 'Revolution.'
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Written by Mhaliya S.
