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These old fashion traditions and values are visible throughout the short story “Yin Chin,” written by Lee Maracle. This story follows the oppression of the Chinese and First Nations communities in early Vancouver and the internal and external conflicts they faced due to racism. From the very beginning of the story, we get a sample of what went on through the heads of individuals of different ethnicities and the old fashion values they possess. At the beginning of the story “Yin Chin,” the narrator walks into a restaurant filled with Chinese and explains “It is my reflexive action on my part to assume that any company that isn’t Indian company is generally unacceptable,” showcasing the reflexive thought process that went through people’s minds if they weren’t the same skin pigment (156). They found the restaurant full and that there were no places to sit because “there aren’t any Indians in the room” (156).
The book highlights both historical and recent events surrounding the issues involving race and racial segregation. “Historically, the concept of race has changed across cultures and eras, eventually becoming less connected with ancestral and familial ties, and more concerned with superficial physical characteristics” (Little, 2014, Ch. 11.1). Author Robyn Maynard explains that much of the racial issues faced by Black Canadians has to do with the fact that they are part of the visible minority. She explains that because Black Canadians are part of the minority, the “Black communities experience significant societal pressure to appeal to white middle-class norms (Maynard, 2017, pg. 13)”.
Chinatown is nearly made up of 83% Asians. The Chinese-Americans came struggling from damaged civil rivalries, poverty, and overfarming. It was interesting to learn that those who migrated ended up in San Francisco and made it a major center of civilization. After the earthquake and fire in 1906 that destroyed all of Chinatown, it was amazing to realize that the Chinese Americans wanted to rebuild the little town district to become a tourist attraction so there would be anti-Asian racism welcoming all ethnicities. Although ethnic enclaves of Chinatown was identified of Chinese-Americans, Chinese business reached out to White American architects to help make Chinatowns district a place full of treasury.
In Canada they are usually seen as being a superior white race. However by looking at this essay and poem it shows that we are multicultural and bilingual. It is important to understand how Canadian culture affects how people treat one another. The beliefs, religious groups and the social groups Canadians fall into is relevant in how others view us and it is a significant
The Chinatown-Lake Merritt area is very populated. There was a variety of many different kinds of people- differences that ranged from race to gender, from age to height, and from dressing style to personalities, and from transportation to job. Laconically speaking, the greatest difference of the Chinatown-Lake Merritt area was the transportation. Near American Indian Public Charter School II were two people sorting luggage in the trunk of their car. There were many different kinds of cars and trucks on the hectic streets.
The white people were forcing the Chinese to sit where they thought was most dangerous on trains, because they thought their lives were more important than the Chinese. It occurred in Canada’s early years after the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. On a train ride, Chinese could only sit in the back two cars. When a train derailed, killing everyone in the front cars, they then changed the rule and Chinese people could only ride the front two cars of the train. When another accident killed everyone in the back, they decided the Chinese could sit anywhere on the train.
For the general majority of current day Americans, the experience of the Central Park Five is seen as a journey of injustice—with the Five now widely regarded as innocent. It all started in 1989, when Central Park jogger, Trisha Meili, was attacked and raped. At the time all eyes were on the boys, whose actions in the park prior to the rape and confessions in the precinct branded them as prime suspects. The victim was left for dead in a ravine, sodomized and beaten to a point where she has lost most of her blood. Then the confession, along with the supporting evidence, of a single man—Matias Reyes—changed the perspective of the boys’ guilt.
Racial formation is the process by which humans classify other human beings based on what they look like and where they come from. To racialize someone is to categorize someone; however, race is not natural, and is in actuality a product of sociohistorical processes. Because racial classifications are manmade, it is pivotal to consider the context and time period of racial systems because they change with history. They are a social construction rather than a biological reality, meaning they can be created, destroyed, and transformed. These processes can be observed when we look at how the Irish, who were initially subject to intense racial discrimination, adopted “whiteness,” or how the Chinese, who were also limited to strenuous physical labor, became the model minority.
Fred Jr knows that what ever he does to fit in as a Canadian, the culture his father raised him to love will always be a part of who he is. Fred Sr. taught him that “a Chinaman can always find his way around the country by knocking on the kitchen doors of Chinese restaurants”(17). The kitchen was a place where the culture all returns and Chinese-Canadians are free to have whatever social identity they choose. They get to feel comfortable in their background, and food draws Fred and his father towards their heritage. The restaurant is something they both have in common and is a place that Fred Jr was raised, which is why he will always have a piece of his father in the back of his mind.
The Ripple Effect of Ignorance - Yin Chin Maracle chooses to display the ripple effect of racism by shedding light on the unjust treatment of the First Nations and Chinese people by writing a story of a First Nation who grew up in a mixed neighborhood that is flooded with prejudice and stereotypes. Maracle further challenges the recurring stereotypes of societal views of minority groups by addressing them through the speaker’s point of view. While sounding like a stereotypical Chinese name or word, the title “Yin Chin” stems from the related sounding word Injun, a way to describe a stereotypical First Nations man or woman who is a “savage warrior” (Churchill 1998). The word dates back to the early settlement of English colonists as a way
Ask yourself: would we be having such a heated discussion if this baby were blond?” (129 Ng).Dr. Wong emphasizes the colorblindness of the Shaker Heights society reflected through the McCulloughs in the sense that they only see her as a regular baby rather than a Chinese baby. Racial colorblindness may seem like a good thing as being unbiased, although this disregards the systemic racism and discrimination many face. Additionally, it also erases people’s identities and experiences.
Imagine a proud horse, tied to a small plastic chair, unmoving because it believes escaping is hopeless. This is a psychological condition called learned helplessness, and in Robert Towne’s Chinatown (1974), we see the detective hero Jake Gittes’ descent into this condition. Gittes is defined by his chase after justice, willing to question and arrest enemies, lovers, and even his employers. Polanski and Towne use the dark world of Chinatown, a very loose “first person” view, and Joe Gittes as a relatable tragic hero in order to lead us to the same conclusion Gittes does: The world and future is out of your control, and by trying to you might make it worse. Better to do as little as possible.
The physical features and stereotypes of the Chinese, such as the skin color also became grounds for their discrimination and segregation. Even the Chinese who were Canadians by naturalization or birth in Canada were no exempt from the anti-Chinese laws. The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 also disregarded the Chinese irrespective of their origin. However, not many Chinese challenged the anti-Chinese laws. A few cases that went to the court to fight against the discriminatory laws saw little success.
Invasive species is a majority factor to the loss of biodiversity across the United States. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) concluded in a study of invasive species that they are responsible for the decline or extinction of roughly 42% of endangered or threatened species in the United States. Invasive species is an organism that is not native to a location or ecosystem and offer the potential to cause harm to not only the environment, but also to human health and the local economy. The introduction of these invasive species into an environment has had significant impacts on the conditions in which native species survive and their ability to adapt to counter the new threat. Invasive species compete with native species for food and resources
All cultures have different appearances. In the story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan she wrote this story to be a documentary to be an informational story about cultures. In the short story “Two Kinds” the mother and the daughter “Jing- Mei” have a conflict about appearance in their cultures. In the story the mother says to her daughter “Jing-Mei” “You look like a Negro Chinese” (Tan 18). In the story the daughter made a comment to that and said “If I had done this on purpose”.
