The First HAPA
The original HAPA held discussions about biracial issues such as mixed marriages, sponsored the premiere American showing of "Doubles," a television documentary on people of half-Asian descent, and held social events featuring Asian food like sushi and Chinese noodles.
According to Walther, the first HAPA gave its members a chance to discuss biracial issues, which they had not had a chance to do.
"We all had had similar related experiences and difficulties growing up, but had never really talked with other people who had experienced the same types of things with regard to being of mixed-race descent," Walther writes in an e-mail message.
Like the present-day HAPA, the original HAPA had a small core group of active members--about 10. But unlike the new HAPA, the original group existed before the emergence of mixed-race golf celebrity Tiger Woods, and before the 2000 Census, which allows Americans to fill in more than one racial bubble.
"This was all before Tiger Woods became famous and elevated discussions of mixed-race issues to the forefront of the American consciousness," Walther writes.
Weisinger says it was easy for the group to gain official recognition from the University because the current HAPA members were simply reviving a defunct student group.
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