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In Richard Rodriguez’s article, “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans”, he states using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid, culture should be what defines a person. For example in the essay Rodriguez states, “I am Chinese and that is because I live in a Chinese city” (91). This indicates that just because he is categorized as Hispanic it does not define who he really is, since he is saying that since he grew up in a Chinese culture and he knows more about Chinese cultures than he knows about his own family culture. Rodriguez defines himself Chinese also because he grew up the Chinese way and not the Hispanic way, but deep down Rodriguez knows his race is actually Hispanic but he rather define himself as Chinese because
To add to the misinformation, the Hispanic category is then compared to other races, which only “constructs a fallacious equation” (408) since a term that signifies culture cannot be compared to a term that signifies race. These false perceptions lead to even more emphasis on race and cause humans to cling to separate identities. Once separated, there is no longer interest in commonalities but rather contempt because of differences, as seen in the example of a group of Laotians’ hatred for Mexicans living nearby. For this particular case, Rodriguez has shown that
Richard Rodriguez essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” reveals Rodriguez’s attitudes towards race and ethnicity as they relate to personal identity. An evidence to support Richard Rodriguez’s claim in this section is when he says “ I am chinese, and that is because I live in a chinese city and because i want to be chinese”. (163-165) This evidence reveals, rodriguez point that ethnicity has nothing to do with race . He says that a person can choose their ethnicity based on the way they want to act and on things they want to be value. Rodriguez got used to the differences and actually started to like them.
In the essay “Blaxicans and other reinvented Americans” author Richard Rodriguez demonstrates how skin color should not define you, but instead, your cultural roots should define you. For example, Rodriguez states “in the Latin American, one sees every race of the world. One sees white Hispanics, one sees black Hispanics, One sees brown Hispanics who are Indians, many of whom do not speak Spanish”(line 94-96). This reveals that the government puts the people in a category without their consent. For example, people from Mexico are Hispanic also people from El Salvador are considered Hispanics, but they are two completely different cultures and traditions.
1 Samantha Carrillo Ms. Alcala ELA 11 Period 3 14 August 2017 Within the essay “ Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans “ by Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez’s uses irony throughout his essay by stating to be Chinese but in reality, he is Hispanic. He also mentions how he is Mestizo, not only does he go by one race but by several races that in reality are not what he is. He identifies himself as Chinese because of fact that he lives in a Chinese city and well because he wants to be Chinese.
Richard Rodriguez's essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” claim that race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid; it is the only culture that defines any individual’s identity. To illustrate, the essay classifies that Rodriguez lived in a Chinese city, in which grasp him to “that palette”(Rodriquez,91). For this reason, the significance of the word “palette” means to contain the colorful symbol of the Chinese culture that Rodriguez adapt to live in. To add on, Rodriguez acclimates to the colors of the Chinese city that he lived in that identifies himself as an individual. Rodriguez aforementioned that comparing individuals as “ blacks and Hispanic... is a fallacious equation” (Rodriquez,91).
This division has continued to play an important part in the social-political atmosphere in the country. Here, it is worth noting that the “black-white binary” is not necessarily used to differentiate those who are “black,” or African Americans, with those who are generally considered “white,” such as Caucasians, but rather to group people of different ethnicities. In this case, even individuals who are Asian (such as Chinese) or Latino (such as Mexicans) can be grouped as “black.” Here, Alcoff noted that while Chinese Americans were classified as white in 1860, but the children of both Chinese and non-Chinese parents were being classified as either black or white in 1900 despite the fact that they were classified as Chinese before.
According to Abraham Lincoln: “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. When the white man governs himself, that is self-government but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government- that is despotism.” (Doc. A) He was referring to the white man’s tendency to treat people with different skin colors as inferiors, which certainly happened in the Philippines.
Human tendency to categorize others extends to simple instinct. From the moment a baby is born, the first question already categorizes the baby: boy or girl. In Richard Rodriguez’s Brown: The Last Discovery of America, he addresses these ideals of categorizations, untangling arduous inner conflicts in the process. Due to his diversity, Rodriguez feels unwanted and omitted in his day-to-day life. Feeling uncategorized, Rodriguez journeys to discover new parts of himself and embrace them, as well as question societal norms.
Richard Rodriguez’s claim about a person's identity is the using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid; culture should be what defines a identity. Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were being “welcomed within a new community for reasons of culture. “ (136-137). Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were welcomed when they were identified by their culture. Richard Rodriguez also says “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and I want to be Chinese.“
Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao explores the lasting effects of colonial violence on a people through the engagement with toxic masculinity and gender violence. The novel skillfully interweaves historical facts with narrative prose in order to draw a connection to an original source of colonial violence to explain its lasting negative effects on the people of the Dominican Republic. The ramifications of the association of a people with the land they inhabit as a means of dehumanizing leads to a snowball effect of a continued search for power from men through violence towards women among a colonized people. Meaning, colonial violence becomes gendered violence when operating within a patriarchal society.
Christopher Castaneda 3/2/2023 2nd period Multicultural Literature Dan-el Padilla was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He came to the U.S when he was only 4 years old legally but unfortunately his visa expired while in the U.S which meant he had become undocumented. Padilla shows us throughout his memoir Undocumented how being undocumented challenges your life. Padilla argues what is succes and how you can attain it and how your social status does not define who you are. My own view on Padilla’s interrelated themes is that success can be whatever you’d like it to be because people have different successes and goals in life.
Race and ethnicity as socially-constructed categories separates friends from the same background. In the article “Best of Friends, Worlds Apart,” Cuban immigrant Joel Ruiz finds himself stuck between two worlds after landing on American soil. Ruiz’s childhood friend Valdes traveled to the United States together and settled down near one another. Valdes lives a well-off life in the Caucasian community as a Cuban. On the other hand, Ruiz identify himself as Cuban, yet, whites see him simply as black.
I was born in Colombia, South America and lived there until I turned seven. Before I moved to the states, I attended a public school and was on the competitive swim team for my school. I earned many awards the year and a half I swam for my school. I took pride in competing with girls three to four years older than me. I also remember how different things were there than they are here in the states.
Effects of Single Stories and Post-colonialism The power of a single story is that it can make us believe that the world is as the story tells it, without questioning the authors who are constructing the narrative. According to Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” speech, That is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become, it is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.