ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how discourses of Black and Asian connections, racial mixing, and global racial politics come to be inscribed on the bodies of singers Tessanne Chin and Judith Hill. It reveals the need for spaces in which mixed race Asian/American identities can be articulated by examining how narratives frame the Blasian contestants on The Voice. The chapter begins with a review of Asian/American performances on reality shows in light of the common ways that they have been articulated with racial tropes. It then focuses on Afro-Asian connections in an examination of mixed race Asian/Americans who are also Black, complicating the idea that racial mixing in the Asian/American community occurs only around Whiteness. The chapter concludes with an analysis of Hill and Chin's presence on The Voice, analyzing audience tweets that discussed their racial identities as they performed on the show.
