Reader Response 2

I don't have a particular favorite this week. I thought that the Walden excerpt was pretty cool, after dissecting his  ramblings. However, I really disliked Civil Disobedience, because I couldn't understand it at all. All the articles were really interesting too, and offered lots of insight into what being an American means to them. I liked How it Feels to be Colored Me because Zora reminded me of my friend, especially with the quote "Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." Zora has a distinctive voice that kind of reminds me of Daisy from The Great Gatsby.  The only exception would be the article by Baldwin, because I couldn't really understand him well either. I liked On being a Mexican American for its crossroads metaphor... (Some of the others were long, like the MLK letter--the reason why I didn't take notes on all of the articles.)

On to the actual post: I am responding to American Dreamer by Bharati Mukherjee. She makes very contemporary points about immigrants vs. Americans, and strips these problems down to ugly truths that everyone denies and which no one wants to here. Most importantly, I find myself relating to her a lot.

Honestly, I can rant about many points she brings up in her article. It's always been "white people" vs. me. (In Japan it wasn't a problem--there were Indians and Caucasians and they were not discriminated against. Tells you a lot about the US, doesn't it?) After all these years of being looked down, you end up finding so much disgust and anger at the pit of your stomach. Why can't you just accept me for who I am? I carry my cultural baggage, yes, but in terms of human beings with feelings and basic rights, we are all the same.

In my family, it's always been "us" against "them", like Mukherjee says. My parents tell me specifically to spread my horizons and make friends with white kids. Also, when they get billings asking for payments they don't need to pay, they blame it on the white people. "What racism!" they mutter. "Just trying to bully you." There are other instances in the car, where you can encounter limitless amounts of jerks driving flashy cars.  Whenever they get beeped or shot a dirty look at for "driving too slow", they say, "Bet you those guys are white people." They later add, "Or black!" These remarks may seem unreasonable, and it makes my parents look like they are the ones being racist, but even though I don't like to admit it, I think in many cases, it is a concept of "us" vs. "them". The Americans pit you against them, and we pit the Americans against us.

Also, one day on the way home from school, an African American man with graying hair, frazzled clothes and beard was riding a dirty bike on Madison, by Racine. There are interesting shops there, and turning my head away from the windows showed me that the man was riding up to me and I was in his way. So I quickly swerved to the right, and as he rode towards my direction he yelled, "Get out of my ----ing way, you ----ing -----." I tried not to take this guy seriously, but I was seriously insulted. What did I ever do to him?

And as for the Americans wanting to bar immigration, I think it is very hypocritical and stupid. American has always been and still is Ellis Island to immigrants. You come to America for a better future, and that is what the US has been advertising for a long time. We are proud nowadays to say we go to diverse schools and whatnot. Plus, Americans were once immigrants too. Except no one wants to acknowledge the fact that we pushed the Native Americans out of their land and no matter how many scholarships you give to outstanding students of Native American descent, it doesn't erase anything. Besides, it's not everyone else's fault that Mexicans keep migrating into the US illegally. Furthermore, it is no one's fault that apparently immigrants are stealing American jobs. Maybe it's because you lack skill.

I promised myself I wouldn't rant. Here I am now, having ranted. I am disappointed in myself, but I couldn't help it. Life is a jerk. Overall, Mukherjee's article says that even though there is a supposed "melting pot" and "mosaic" in America and Canada, there are still divisions among the cultures, with Caucasians in the center on a podium surrounded by bulletproof glass. Even though we are here in America for a better future, there is a divide of "us" vs. "them". It shouldn't exist, and by rejecting her Asian-American hyphenation, Mukherjee says that is it her demand for equal deliverance of the promises of the American dream and its Constitution. Afterall, we are all here for the same reasons.

King Still King?

Come Monday, we will observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in memory of one of the greatest civil rights activists, a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism. A prominent figure in the African American civil rights movement, he led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and in 1964, was the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He devoted his whole life, which ended in assassination, to end racial discrimination and segregation. All for what?

One thing a human being cannot avoid is being biased. Even though no one admits to it today, we are still racist/discriminating in some way. We hold stereotypes against others, and even ourselves. ("You're Asian, why didn't you get a 100 on that test?" or "That was some Indian dude driving that taxi.") We joke around, I joke around, but after all the laughter has died down, I can't help but feel a little... hurt? Offended? Annoyed? We don't mean to, but we discriminate, and that's that. Furthermore, we'd like to believe that America is the boiling pot, a welcoming place for immigrants. But I'd always thought this pot was just a little too hot--be prepared to be scalded at any moment. 

[Jiayin's life story] I myself am an immigrant. Not second generation, not first. I migrated here along with my parents, from China to Japan, and then to the US. My story isn't unique at all--in some ways it doesn't differ from the Mexicans' or the Filipinos'. My parents had great jobs in China, truthfully speaking. We didn't emigrate for economic reasons, they emigrated for my future. Not only are we not as well-off as we would've been if we stayed in China, in the so-called melting pot, we are being looked down on. You can't prove that they don't like you because you're foreign, but it's just a feeling that you get. My parents don't speak the best English, and have gone through plenty of uncomfortable situations because all people did was look down on them, and never genuinely tried to help them. As for me, maybe it was because I was the new kid in first grade, but I think primarily because I couldn't speak English, a bunch of kids in first grade decided to steal my color pencils every. single. day. (I shall refrain from mentioning the race.) I had to take them back every single day, and what could I do? I didn't even know what came first: A or B or C? I didn't know Chinese, and who in the world spoke Japanese in Bridgeport?  [/Jiayin's life story]

Apart from a sort of social discrimination, I'd like to generalize by mentioning immigration laws. I'm not talking about the Mexican-US border laws and the Whatever-whatever Act granting citizenship to illegal Mexican children. (It bugs me that no one knows much about immigration outside of Mexicans.) Anyways, as immigrants, you come with a visa status, and if you want to stay, you have to apply for visa status changes, and then ultimately, your Green Card, making you a permanent alien resident. Because we are Chinese (or Asian, whichever), we have to wait a very long time for our Green Card (as well as forms that have to be approved of in between--currently it is backed up in 2005). Whereas other races (minorities) don't have to wait in line like we Chinese people and Indians do. I understand that they do this because there are lots of us, but it doesn't make sense to me. Not only is it backed up to 2005, sometimes they backtrack further. And along the way, they reject many, many Green Card applications. Once your visa runs out, you have to leave. However, I don't want to say anything more about this, because I am "only a kid" and I can only know so much about all this legal schnazz.

But Why? Isn't it obvious they are trying to draw the line? They are rejecting many applications and backing up the line such that if the forms don't approve in time of the visas, people will have to leave. If we are all equal, why do we have to go through so much trouble? Why do people who are born here get automatic citizenship? How can it be that easy? And ultimately (though unreasonable as this question is) why don't they just force all the African Americans back to Africa? 

I'm just upset that here, we have a bunch of corrupt CEOs playing games with the market, while the US Immigration Department goes through Chinese applications based on how much this person will contribute to the country. We as immigrants have to go through a sort of social injustice (and social trauma in my case--do you know how much I love those color pencils?) in this so-called melting pot where immigrants get to start over and live a better life. I don't understand why we are so bent upon differentiating ourselves. (In the words of Mr. Wallace, "Chinese people can't differentiate their /l/'s and /r/'s!") Is feeling superior necessary?

We are not all equal, and it bugs me. It bugs me a lot.

Reader Response

So... [insert awkward moment here]

I really liked the To Be Young, Talented and Black excerpt (p. 770-773) by Lorraine Hansberry (even more than I liked the We are Ugly, But We are Here) because it was really colorful. Not in the kind of The Great Gatsby colorful, but in the sense that it painted a vivid idea in my head what Hansberry's life was like back then.

I can't really put into words why I liked it so much. (I need to learn how to ramble in circles like Syd here. Of course, in the nicest way possible.)

Is it weird that I liked it because her writing style is one that I aspire to develop mine into? I wish I could write meaningful sentences ("Why was it important to take a small step, a teeny step, or the most desired of all--one GIANT step?"). Ones that imply meaning instead of explicitly stating them. ("...we were better than no one but infinitely better than everyone...") Ones that could be little stories on their own, trailing off and leaving the reader with a 'Huh.' moment (kind of like an 'Ohhhh.' moment; "You are not a person--you are a nuisance who is not particular fun anymore. Consequently, you swiftly learned to play alone.")

Even though she talks of the vanity required to write a memoir, even though every section seems like she is just giving you a glimpse of her life, they come along with some sort of implied meaning. Her writing is simplistic and soulful.

Maybe I should stop here, before I start saying things that will make me yell, "You're so stupid. Why don't you just shut up?" to myself later, when I go back and reread this. Point is, I like it, and I hope to read the rest of the book sometime soon.

-JY



PS: I'm sure no one cares, but that banner at the top of this page? Yeah, I made it. :D Just wanted to point that out, before it goes down for the new year.
Temporary Link for Mr. McCarthy: Indigoe Timms