’The Other Ones’ and the cross-race effect

by Martin and Rich Lee

Do all Asians really look alike? It’s a common enough experience that many Asian Americans make jokes about it. Known as the cross-race effect, it is a form of bias toward one’s own racial group. But this kind of mistaken identity can have serious negative consequences. It is why eyewitness testimonies are unreliable especially when the witness is a different race from the alleged perpetrator. In less extreme situations, confusing one Asian for another is invalidating and can perpetuate the notion that Asian Americans are outsiders aka foreigners. To overcome cross-race effects, people need to be aware of this ingroup bias, be more attuned to unique features, and interact more across racial groups to appreciate the diversity of appearances.

Martin and Rich Lee are second generation Korean American brothers. Martin is a retired elementary school teacher and the illustrator of the strip. Rich is a professor of psychology in Asian American studies at the University of Minnesota and writes the content.

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