"I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii"
About this Quote
In the context of an actress who broke through in an industry obsessed with legible categories, the sentence works as both self-definition and preemptive correction. It’s a way of saying: don’t reduce me to whichever fraction fits your casting call. “Hawaii” functions as more than a location tag; it’s shorthand for a multicultural normal where mixture isn’t an exception, it’s the baseline. That subtext pushes back on the mainland tendency to treat mixed heritage as an identity puzzle to solve, rather than a lived fact.
There’s also a strategic softness to the phrasing. No manifesto, no accusation, just biography. That restraint is its own critique: she doesn’t have to argue for complexity; she simply states it, daring the listener to keep up. In a pop-cultural landscape that still rewards neatness, Carrere’s sentence is a reminder that some people arrive already cross-stitched, and the most honest way to say it is with a list and a place.
Quote Details
| Topic | Life |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Carrere, Tia. (2026, January 15). I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-of-filipino-spanish-and-chinese-descent-and-164621/
Chicago Style
Carrere, Tia. "I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-of-filipino-spanish-and-chinese-descent-and-164621/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-of-filipino-spanish-and-chinese-descent-and-164621/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



