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Front Desk Quotes

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In a world where inequitable opportunities and outcomes are based on race, not everyone has freedom to do as they wish. The novel “Front Desk” by Kelly Yang follows the experiences of 10 year old Mia, an immigrant from China, and her family who live and work at a motel in the United States. Throughout the story Mia, her family, and her friends face racism in various forms that shows social inequalities. Kelly Yang states these racist actions and injustice in her book through the character of Hank, who faces discrimination due to his skin color. Additionally, the novel explores the theme of discrimination faced by Mia and her family based on their immigrant status. The setting of the story takes place at a motel and it shows the mistreatment experienced by the characters, especially under the unsympathetic management of landlord Mr. Yao. “Front desk” offers a strong narrative that confronts social inequalities and highlights the …show more content…

Hank is a compassionate and supportive character who encourages and supports Mia throughout the story with the challenges she faces. Tragically, when Mr. Lorenz's car got stolen, both cops and Mr. Yao targeted Hank, judging by his skin color. This led the police to visit his workplace and ultimately cost him his job. When Mia asks him why he is not standing for this injustice, Hank answers with resignation, saying, "I've been fighting my whole life. I'm done. It’s no use fighting—people are gonna be the way they’re gonna be" (Yang 105). This incident shows the nature of racism: as Hank is wrongly accused of stealing the car despite being innocent, his race becomes the basis of false accusations, even resulting in him being evicted from the motel he was living in. The act of racism is shown in the past and present, and the novel "Front Desk" highlights the needs and efforts for combating such discrimination. It promotes equality and justice for all individuals, regardless of their

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After risking it all and creating a successful business Hank was not satisfied and took the next step and remodeled the new store with a revolutionary idea that had a lot of doubters: “He says it’s an idea that'll never catch on” (191). Hank’s plan at remodeling was a good risk that reaped a big reward. Another huge risk made by Hank and his family was taking Dodger, a criminal who had lost his way and had no role models. This put their business and public image into question, but Hank knew what was right. Although chancy Hank was reasonable and instead of going with the feud between the religions he hired a lutheran which happened to be great for business and showed how Hank didn't get caught in the foolishness and was rational.

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“Racism in Toyland” by Christine L. Williams, is a story of her experience and the multiple aspects of racism she’s seen in toy stores. Williams’s shares with us the time she recalled scene that white women and women of color were treated differently in addition to the way the customers behaved. The time a white woman threw a temper tantrum and offered compensation, compared to another time a woman of color received no such luxury even though the toy store was the party that had caused the mishap. The fixated ideal that the difference in treatment wasn’t deviating from the normal encounters tells more of societies underlying thought than the observation presents. This is much thought provoking to see the connection between her observation

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639 Words | 3 Pages

In this book Glory is overwhelmed with how her town is handling people who are different than they are. She realizes that her favorite local pool is closing down so colored people can’t swim with the whites. Glory becomes an activist herself and writes a letter to the newspaper lining which makes her preacher father proud. Therefore, the theme of this book is to treat everyone equally, such as when Glory’s friend Frankie from Ohio drinks out of the “colored fountain”. Also, when Glory’s sisters boyfriend that he was arrested for sitting with a “colored friend” at the white table.

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400 Words | 2 Pages

By unpacking the mechanisms that sustain white privilege, these works empower readers to engage in meaningful conversations about race, challenge their own biases, and actively contribute to the pursuit of racial justice. Moreover, these works encourage readers to move beyond mere acknowledgment of privilege and to take concrete action against systemic racism. They advocate for allyship and coalition-building across racial lines, as well as for challenging and dismantling the institutions and structures that perpetuate white

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54 Words | 1 Pages

Immigrants to America face possible danger and death, yet they are shunned. This is shown in the work of Barbara Kingsolver. The injustices the characters faced in the novel, which was set in the 80’s, are still prevalent today. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice

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1139 Words | 5 Pages

In addition, Black Americans spent hundreds of years not having the ability to drink from the same fountains as white people, use the same bathrooms, or even ride the same transportation. These obstacles have created intergenerational trauma for millions, including Jerome. Intergenerational trauma in Jerome’s life stems from the legacy of slavery and racial violence in the United States that affected his ancestors massively. Their trauma palpably contributes to the family’s struggles with poverty, racism and loss. In addition, Jerome and his family tolerate a lacklustre, underfunded education.

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1309 Words | 6 Pages

Historically, certain racial groups have faced systemic discrimination in education, which has resulted in unequal access to resources and opportunities. For example, Black and Hispanic students are more likely to attend underfunded schools and they also face higher rates of disciplinary actions, such as suspensions and expulsions, which can negatively impact their academic progress and mental health. For example in “Pigeons” by Eileen Pollack she states “Pablo Rodriguez, whose parents were migrant farmers and who, in sixth grade could barely read or write or the Buck Brothers, Phil and Gregory, who seemed to get punished for no other reason than being a large and male and black”(Pollack 118). This statement shows how big of a role being born into a certain race impacts the educational opportunities a child can receive in life. As Well as the discrimination a student can face by just being a different race in the text the Buck brothers were seemingly just punished because they were and had different color skin for the rest of the students and this is seen today in school systems where students are mistreated just by how they look.

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1385 Words | 6 Pages

In the book, there are significant racial tensions and racial divisions in society. Young Black women like Lauren, the primary character, must find their way in a society where they face prejudice and marginalization. In the story, racism is shown as a persistent menace in a society where one's character or aptitudes are more often evaluated than the color of one's skin. Unfortunately, this is a problem that persists in modern culture. The work emphasizes the consequences of institutionalized racism, which persists today.

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Throughout the course of the book, Janie experiences oppression as a woman, revealing the hidden gender roles in American society that help form the American

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The novel Kindred by Octavia Butler examines issues of racism and slavery throughout America by depicting an African American woman named Dana who, through forced time travel, finds herself in the antebellum south. This story focuses on the violence, exploitation, and abuse of black people in the past. However, through Dana and Kevin's relationship, the novel speculates on the systemic impact racism has systemically on contemporary society. This is highlighted through the struggles present within their interracial marriage and how their dynamics parallel the racism present throughout the book. Kindred explores the ways in which systemic racism has affected and continues to impact society.

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The book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? addresses the topics of racial identity, racism, and the phenomenon of self-segregation. This book is written by Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist who has given presentations on “Talking to Children about Race”, “Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression”, and “Understanding Racial Identity Development”. Tatum wrote this book in hope that with the right education and willingness to understand that soon our world could change. Tantum defines racism as “a system of advantage based on race” (Tatum, 1997,pg. 22), after defining racism Tantum discusses how racism by her definition only applies to Whites.

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804 Words | 4 Pages

Despite the abundance of equality in America, prejudices still lurk beneath it. Growing up as a first-generation Asian, I encountered many obstacles socially. Though I wasn’t necessarily “bullied,” there still was an apparent barrier between me and the other kids. I simply didn’t fit in, and my appearance played a major role in it-- I just didn’t look like the others.

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808 Words | 4 Pages

The problem is more than race, it is about how humans treat other humans and how little respect we give to those we deem lower than us. The author used the characters to show that the desire to be superior among others goes further than race. She also used a real tragedy, the murder of the NAACP Field Secretary, which allows readers to connect the novel to real life and making the novel more compelling. These key issues make the readers think deeper, allows the novel to surpass others like it, and connect to many human interactions even in today’s

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3280 Words | 14 Pages

Afro-American women writers present how racism permeates the innermost recesses of the mind and heart of the blacks and affects even the most intimate human relationships. While depicting the corrosive impact of racism from social as well as psychological perspectives, they highlight the human cost black people have to pay in terms of their personal relationships, particularly the one between mother and daughter. Women novelists’ treatment of motherhood brings out black mothers’ pressures and challenges for survival and also reveals their different strategies and mechanisms to deal with these challenges. Along with this, the challenges black mothers have to face in dealing with their adolescent daughters, who suffer due to racism and are heavily influenced by the dominant value system, are also underlined by these writers. They portray how a black mother teaches her daughter to negotiate the hostile, wider world, and prepares her to face the problems and challenges boldly and confidently.

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2637 Words | 11 Pages

Recurrent racism, its social impacts, is a central theme of immigrant writing that creates many landscapes in contemporary literature. The immigrant writer takes an opportunity to attack and tackle racism and its consequence from different angles – religious, cultural and historical. The writer does not randomly preoccupy with and write about her/his intricate experience in the new land, but explicitly unfold his/her race/gender experience with its ups and downs. This type of writing has created a new understanding of theories such as racism/gender/ethnic/counter-narrative and post colonial studies among many others. This alternative genre is maneuvered by political, psychological, social and cultural processes of power that is influential to its construction.

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