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Cultural Conflict In 'Legal Alien'

697 Words3 Pages

My mother once told me, “Never make fun of, or stereotype others, because you do not know how they will take it or what they have been through.” This saying is an example of today’s problems because cultural conflict is a major issue in the world. Based on the text, discrimination, cultural identity, and stereotyping seem to be the most prevalent causes of cultural conflict.
One of the most important reasons why there is cultural conflict is discrimination. Discrimination is when a person treats another person differently based on their race, background, sex, or ethnicity. In the poem, “Legal Alien” the author states how Mexicans do not view her as a Mexican and Americans do not view her as an American, so she feels like she does not belong …show more content…

Cultural identity is the feeling of belonging to a group or knowing yourself. An example of how cultural identity is one of the most prevalent causes of cultural conflict is in the story, “Ethnic Hash” the author did not know what to cook and bring to the party she was invited because she was mixed and did not know which culture to pick and represent herself as (Williams, 1997). In this situation the author did not know which culture she seemed to fit in the most, she was lost and was having trouble with what she wanted her food to be based on. Another example of cultural identity being a common problem is in story, “Two Kinds” the author stated how she believed that she could not do anything because her mom pressured her too much (Tan, 1989). The author did not believe in herself, she did not know what she was capable of, she was pressured into being someone she was not and that led her to disobeying her mother, since she could not find what she was good at. On the other hand in the poem, “Where I’m From” the author is very proud of her culture, so much that she describes it in a joyful tone. The author says “I am from” several times to emphasize that she loves her culture (Lyon, 1999). However, in the poem, “Legal Alien” the author has trouble identifying herself and figuring out to which group of people she feels she belongs too (Mora, 1985). This shows that

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