Carmen Rita Wong Parents: What is Carmen’s Ethnicity?

Who is Carmen Rita Wong?

Carmen Rita Wong is an American radio, television, and online journalist, as well as a personal financial specialist at CNBC, where she was the previous host of the 2005 edition of a personal finance program called “On the Money.” She also contributes to CNBC.com with a blog about taking charge of your own finances.

How Old is Carmen Rita Wong?

Carmen is currently 49 years old. She was born on July 9, 1974, in the United States.

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Carmen Rita Wong Parents: What is Carmen’s Heritage?

Wong was raised in Harlem by her Chinese father, Peter Ting Litt “Papi” Wong, and her Dominican mother, Guadalupe “Lupe” Altagracia. She relocated to New Hampshire with her older brother, Italian-American stepfather, and eventually four young sisters when her parents parted ways.

According to Wong, the relocation instilled bitterness in her mother. In fact, her mother abandoned all she valued in New York to follow a “white savior” to a strange area, where she took her bitterness out on her children.

She remembers being slapped, pinched, and had her hair dragged. She also remembers being forced to eat “white” foods she didn’t like and receiving warnings that if she didn’t clean the toilet thoroughly, she would have to lick the inside of it.

Her relationship with her father was also strained. Her mother suffered abuse at the hands of Papi Wong, a heroin dealer, mafia boss, and Chinatown gangster who was also charming and occasionally a devoted parent. After Papi was eventually taken into custody, she lost touch with him for over ten years.

Carmen cut off contact with her mother, Lupe after years of trauma and abuse that kept on going until adulthood. She pointed out that the choice was never meant to be permanent.

Her mother was Dominican, and her father, albeit not her biological father, was of Chinese origin. In her account of Why Didn’t You Tell Me? she confronts the reality that she had been overlooked for 31 years.

As the truth comes to light, she is forced to reconsider her family, her ethnicity, and the decisions her mother made. It’s a narrative about how your entire identity can change in a single lifetime and ends up disturbing your sense of belonging to the core.

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Who is Carmen Rita Wong’s Biological Father?

Carmen’s stepfather revealed to her at the age of 31 that Papi Wong was not her biological father. Wong described the sudden realization as “jostling to [her] soul,” and it occurred at the same time Lupe was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

Carmen went from providing Lupe with assistance at a distance to assuming the role of her caretaker by sitting by her bedside. Carmen, who knew she only had very limited time with Lupe, wanted to find out why Lupe kept so many things kept under wraps.

She questioned her mother about the falsehoods that had come to light, including those about her father’s identity extramarital affairs, abortions, and abuse.

Lupe died in 2004. Although Carmen cared for her mother at the end of her life, she was still unable to forgive Lupe for the many years she spent hiding certain things from her.

Carmen was sure that she was still a Wong despite the fact that finding out Papi Wong wasn’t her real father prompted her identity to be upended. Papi died in 2022 but Carmen never told him that he wasn’t her biological father.

In her memoir, she describes the several paths she took—along with a DNA test with unexpected results—to discover the truth about her biological father.

According to her, the journey was one that was loaded with dishonesty and unforeseen revelations and mirrored the story of a telenovela. Carmen is currently revealing her family’s secrets to the world.

She acknowledges that the idea of people reading about her life is “terrifying,” but she also expresses the hope that taking the risk may inspire others to share their experiences and put an end to the habit of keeping secrets.

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Who is Carmen Rita Wong’s Husband?

Carmen is not married at the moment. However, she was initially married to Lawrence Ulrich. The now ex-couple held their wedding on May 7, 2005, in the United States. Carmen and Lawrence separated for reasons unknown to us.