Just when I thought I’d heard it all when it comes to social pathologies, along comes a new one: transracialism. “What fresh hell is this?” you may be asking.

In short, transracialism refers to the belief that one can change one’s race. Hell, if you can change your sex through hormones and surgery, why not that too? Besides, we’ve already seen examples of this: remember Rachel Dolezal, the very white woman who passed herself off as black because she self-identified as such?

Dolezal became a laughingstock, as has Shaun King, aka “Talcum X,” a white man who still insists that he’s black.

But this new social pathology is more insidious than two adults trying to pass themselves off as another race. This usually involves teenagers, especially girls, who want to become Asian. This has emerged from the cesspool of social media, of course, especially TikTok.

“Race Change to Another”

I first heard about transracialism, or as it’s called on social media, “RCtA” — aka Race Change to Another — through a Substack article by Sheluyang Peng, who yes, is truly Asian. Peng is the son of Chinese immigrants who fled Communist China after their conversions to Christianity. He posts superb articles on American social order at his Substack, “Society and Standpoint.”

Peng accurately describes transracialism as another form of social media contagion. Only this time teenage girls don’t want to become another sex, they want to become another race, usually Asian.

Typically this happens after long exposure to East Asian culture on social media; as one girl said on a YouTube video:

I am going to be switching to Japanese because I feel so close to the culture by eating sushi, watching animes, and wearing kimonos. 

And how do these teenage girls accomplish their race change? They start by adopting an Asian name. Some believe they can even make physical changes, through subliminal videos that claim to provide the viewer with an “East Asian” appearance. If they play these videos on loop throughout the night, their hair will become darker and their eyes can even attain monolids, they believe.

Screenshot: @bloomin6yu/X.

Hold on — isn’t this “cultural appropriation?” Haven’t we been instructed by our moral superiors on Twitter, er, “X,” that you dare not wear a sombrero if you’re not Mexican? Or wear a kimono for Halloween if you’re a white girl?

I guess if you feel the need to engage in RCtA, these rules don’t apply.

The Troubled Girls of Transracialism

As an Asian man, Sheluyang Peng is understandably bothered by the rise of transracialism. However, he doesn’t point fingers and shame these girls with accusations of cultural appropriation. Instead he seeks to understand this bizarre behavior, writing:

I will not “affirm” these “transracials”, and neither should anyone else. These kids are deeply depressed and think that their problems will all go away if they identify as Asian. It’s not happening. They need someone to tell them that it’s normal to be insecure about their identity and appearance at that age, and that there is no magic transformation that will make their mental anguish go away.

It’s not a mystery why these teens are deeply depressed, either. The rise in depression in teenagers and young adults corresponds with the increase in smartphone use, as well as social media. Add to that the years these kids were sequestered in their homes due to pandemic shutdowns, and it’s a perfect storm for the rise in depression and even suicide.

Transexuality Good, Transracialism Bad

Ironically, transexual activists insist that transracialism is not the new transgenderism. And don’t you dare compare the two.

As two academics from Edith Cowan University in Australia instruct us:

This is not because there is anything inherently wrong with trans people, but because of how trans people are treated by others. Conflating racial identity with gender identity implies that being trans is a choice, and therefore so is race. The reality is that transitioning as a trans person is a difficult and taxing process, one that can be dangerous but also lifesaving and celebrated.

It is racist to think someone can pick and choose parts of a race or culture they like, then distance themselves from that culture when it suits them. They avoid the burden of discrimination while reaping the rewards of white privilege, taking the necessary resources and voices from the communities who need it.

In other words: transexuals are victims, transracial adherents are not.

Yeah, tell Oli London that. They’re hypocrites, he says.

London is a British social media influencer who was both transracial and transexual. First he underwent surgeries to look like the lead singer of a Korean boy band. However, last year he also identified as a “gender fluid trans woman” and decided to adopt the appearance of a female Korean singer.

Are you confused yet? So was Oli London, except he is confused no longer. On Thursday night he appeared with Leland Vittert on NewsNation to say that he was living life as he was born to be — a British man. “I cannot be another person,” he told Vittert.

Last November London announced that he — a former atheist — has found Christianity, Catholicism in particular. “This actually kind of saved my life. It’s brought me back to who I am as a person, finding God,” he told Catholic News Agency.

No, You Cannot Change Your Race

When I was very young my uncle brought me a beautiful Japanese doll when he returned from serving in the Army in Japan. He also brought me a child’s kimono and clogs.

The doll — which I still have — is not a toy. Her face, feet, and hands are of porcelain, her kimono of silk, and the warrior’s headdress she carries has long tresses of real hair flowing in back.

I don’t remember getting these gifts. But I do remember my mother dressing me up in the kimono for Halloween when I was in kindergarten. And I also remember how she regarded that doll as something very special.

As a result she instilled in me a lifelong love for Asian art. But I never wanted to be Asian. And even though I experienced typical teenage angst, if you were to tell me that all my problems would vanish if I could become another race, I would’ve thought you were crazy.

That’s because I believed that I was made in the way that God intended. To try to change what I was would be spitting in His face.

But God has been replaced by the worship of social media images, and depressed teenagers who live online seek to assuage their pain by thinking they can become another sex, or another race.

The fad of transracialism may be just a blip in our social order; after all, there are no surgeries or melanin-changing therapies. Nor can anyone change the history of where their ancestors came from. But, as Sheluyang Peng writes, “in times like these, who knows what will magically become the next civil rights crusade?”

Featured image: “Japanese influence?” by antwerpenR is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Cropped.