Will the Wasians Let Us Sit With Them?

A question on many of our minds: would Charli XCX be invited to the viral Wasian meetup in New York City’s Central Park? What about Naomi Scott or Zayn? Reader, in case you haven’t heard, Wasiagate is upon us. Initially billed as “the largest worldwide gathering of Wasians,” thousands of half-white, half-Asians descended upon Sheep Meadow on Sunday, May 10 to partake in lookalike contests (including of Alysa Liu, Conan Gray, and Keanu Reeves), play Wasian bingo, and meet other Wasians. 

Then, it got ugly. Racist chats from the Wasian Discord started leaking. “Imposter,” wrote someone above a photo of a Wasian with an afro. Another observer wrote: “My bf went to the Wasian meetup (he’s half Indian half white) and three girls came up to him saying he wasn’t actually Wasian because Wasian implies East Asian.” That screenshot has amassed over 4 million views on X.

Most were left to pontificate: why did a group purporting to celebrate half-Asians erase many of them? Where were the Blasians? The Blindians or Chindians? We spoke to Wasian influencers, other mixed-race South Asians, event attendees, and scholars to find out.