As Americans, we are supposed to be willing to widely and attentively consider other cultures traditions, practices, and styles of life. I personally don’t presume in this line from the American anthem “the land of the free and the home of the brave. A substantial amount of Americans’ are chauvinist’s, or just simply don’t take other cultures into consideration. This is why Fan Shen chooses to be his Chinese cultured, self while writing in America. There are many differences in American and Chinese writing.
Historically, groups of people whose “label” is comprised of conjunctive ethnicities experience a difficult time finding their true identity, but identity is found when unidentifiable individuals find a common goal. In the course of the last two weeks, we explored a concept called “Pan-Ethnicity” which deals with the unification of multiple ethnicities. It’s concept and practice is displayed by Yen Le Espiritu’s “Coming Together: The Asian American Movement”, and in chapter eight and nine of Diane C. Fujino’s book, “Samurai Among Panthers” respectively. In Espiritu’s text, a pan-ethnic organization or more specifically, a pan-Asian organization did two things for the Asian American movement.
I picked The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson as my one book to read this summer because the serial killer aspect of the novel really appealed to me as compelling and interesting. Larson tells two different stories in the novel that are tied together by happening in the same city of Chicago in the 1890s. It tells of Daniel Burnham and his determination to create something good and H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who practices great evil. This book has a meaningful impact on how I view life as it divulges the difference between good and evil. I have always thought I was a good person or at least I try to be.
The Chinese “were barred from naturalized citizenship,” but because they viewed education as a path to achieving a higher rank in society, they sent their children to “public schools, where they said the Pledge of Allegiance…and learned about American culture” (Takaki 205). Despite their attempt to break the racial formation, the Chinese remained racialized, primarily because of the different color of their skin. Access to education ultimately enabled both the Irish and Chinese to challenge the racial formation constructed by Anglos; however, only the Irish were truly able to assimilate into the Anglo-Saxon community and ultimately abolish the racial
In Kat Chow’s essay “My ‘Oriental’ Father”, she conveys her thoughts on the word “oriental.” Her father, who had come to the U.S. from Hong Kong, still uses the word “oriental.” The correct terms used by scholars and activists are Asian or Asian American. Chow would prefer her father use one of these scholarly terms instead. She is worried if he continues to use the word “oriental,” people will continue to view him as foreign.
Faced with stereotypes in America, Lee is also tormented in China for his American nationality and lack of modern cultural awareness. Both communities view Lee and Chinese-Americans as “others”, refusing to fully accept them culturally or socially. Lee is foreign everywhere, since he is not a white American or a Chinese citizen. Only able to find solidarity in the community of “othered” Chinese-Americans, Lee feels more accepted in America than in China. However, those that only see Lee for his ethnicity and not for his inner person are racist against him because he does not fit the mold of what a “perfect” American is supposed to look and sound like.
The first primary sources discusses the author’s thought on colored immigrants over taking the white Americans. The author was worried about the “complexion of his country” that the immigrants would give. The second primary source addresses the issues of Chinese immigrants not wanting to adopt the American way of living. They did not want to learn a new language, nor leave their culture or their religion.
This paragraph from Kesaya Noda’s autobiographical essay “Growing Up Asian in America” represents the conflict that the author feels between her Japanese ethnicity, and her American nationality. The tension she describes in the opening pages of her essay is between what she looks like and is judged to be (a Japanese woman who faces racial stereotypes) versus what she feels like and understands (life as a United States citizen). This passage signals her connection to Japan; and highlights her American upbringing. At this point in the essay, Noda is unable to envision her identity as unified and she describes her identity as split by race.
She writes, “My aunts and mom and grandmother would jabber on in Korean, and I would eat and listen, unable to comprehend, bothering my mom every so often, asking her to translate”. This quote showcases how her inability to understand the language her family speaks has led to her feeling like an outsider within her own family. This sense of otherness has caused her to feel disconnected from her Korean heritage, which has led to a social divide between herself and her family. Similarly, the child in “In the Land of the Free” has been assimilated into American culture, causing him to feel disconnected from his Chinese heritage and his family.
This language is evident on page 6 in which Maxine asks her readers, "Chinese-Americans, when you try to understand what things are in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese?" (Kingston, 6). This quote from the beginning of the book demonstrates the struggles around being the ideal Chinese American Maxine's mother envisioned her to be. From the young age at which Maxine's mother began telling her stories, Maxine had to equip and absorb the Chinese manners her mom forced upon her. Accordingly, it was crucial for Maxine to fully understand and execute expectations these stories unveiled, due to how significant they were in shaping her identity.
Over time generations have been influenced by others, yet there has been a sense of embarrassment or self-disgust when pointing out each of the generation’s roots. Throughout “Always Living in Spanish” written by Marjorie Agosin, she shares the passion she has for Spanish. She reveals her strong relationship with it and how she would not want to give it up, it was hers. She does this to give off the impression that roots are beautiful no matter where they are from and that there should be a sense of pride when one does use the language of their past or performs a cultural tradition. In author, Yang’s, “American Born Chinese” he also gives off a similar moral.
Chicanos born in America were separated from the other American citizens. They were scorned if their native language was spoken in class. This resulted in a disinterested students who usually have personality confusions because their language was wrong (Anzaldua, 39). Language is associated to culture; when there is a language difference, it can affect the person’s cultural identity. However, I believe that differences in the language should not influence the inner identity to be accepted in a group.
The fear of Chinese immigrants was not purely due to economic reasons. In reality, Chinese workers and culture were seen as invasive and pervasive with contradictions to American values. Therefore, Chinese workers were not only seen as economic opponents, but as an epidemic that can erode away the very fabric of American society (Ryo
World War One was inevitable, there was so much tension that there was no way it could be avoided. I think the three main contributing factors to World War One were militarism, alliances and nationalism. What would you do if you saw someone walking down the street with a gun slung across their shoulder strolling down the road casually? This was a normal sight in post-World War One Germany, because of militarism. At the time of the war, Germany was able to supply 11 million people to war despite their relatively small size.
In American Born Chinese, Jin Wang changes immensely from the beginning to the end of the story. At the beginning of the story, Jin Wang wants to fit in and break apart from his Chinese Heritage. By the end of the story, because of various external and internal conflicts, Jin has learned to accept his Chinese heritage. He has also experienced anger, happiness, regret, and guilt that all got him to the point where he learned to accept his heritage.
