Summary Of The Chinese In All Of Us By Richard Rodriguez

The story that I chose to write my essay over was “The Chinese in All of Us” by Richard Rodriguez. The claims and the meaning of this writing are very well thought out and introspective. In this text Richard Rodriguez talks about his experience with being a minority living in the United States. He goes into detail about he does not see himself as an outsider, but rather as a member of a “melting pot” society. I find the authors points in this story very confounding, and believe that our country is one of unity through diversity. The authors main claim in this story is that just because of someone’s cultural background, does not make him or her a cultural outsider. In the text Richard writes “ I grew up here, in this country, amongst you. I am like you.” (Rodriguez) Richard Rodriguez also makes the claim that there is no such thing as “bicultural.” He states that someone’s allegiance will always belong more to one side than the other. In the text the author also claims that the people that someone associates himself or herself with are who they become. An example of this in the text is when Richard when asked if he considered himself American or Hispanic he answered, “I think of myself of Chinese.” His answer was made to show a point. The

Richard talks about his experiences when he was young, of how his parents were asked by his teachers to speak English around the house to help improve Richards English skills. He talks about how frustrated it made him to see his parents speak Spanish when he wasn’t present, but then switch to English when he entered the room. This type of behavior can cause anyone, especially a young persona to feel separation. While at a young age kids are in the process of developing who they are and understanding their place in society, and behavior like that of his parents can cause a child to feel unsure of who they really