Question

To which part of her identity is nods referring when she says that “my identity seemed to hurtle towards me and my paste itself right in my face”

Answer 1

I would say she is referring to her racial identity.

She is talking about how people used to be very racist towards her because she is part Japanese (she is a Japanese-American citizen). Just by taking a glance to her face, they would assign her a certain race and treat her differently based on that.