Ronald Takaki a renowned pioneer in the field of ethnic studies has over the years authored numerous books on diversity in American society. As a grandson of Japanese immigrants who became the first black studies professor at UCLA, Takaki for many years has continually tried to bridge cultures and ethnic groups in the United States. In his book “A different mirror: A history of multicultural America”, Takaki addresses the idea of multiculturalism in our society, and also talks about how for many years we have been told to acknowledge the notions that the core principles of our nation uprooted only from one group rather than a contribution from other various cultures as well. The ‘master narrative’ posed by Takaki describes the growing
Everyday the future in America looks brighter for the issues dealing with race and identity. Brave souls are not letting racism, class discrimination, or sexism hold them back anymore. Furthermore, the fight for a balanced society that pushes for equality is on the horizon. As we close on an era, based on purely the skin of the person, we need to analyze the impacts of the Ethnicity paradigm and Class paradigm on politics of the 20th century. Race and Ethnicity are used interchangeable in everyday conversation, however; they are not the same.
Racial identity can be fluid just as shown in “Citizen 13360” that Japanese Americans identify as American; however, others are still classified as Japanese. In
The term “melting pot” has been used since the early 1900s, and it means a place where people, ideas, theories, cultures, etc. are mixed together. Although this may seem like a harmless thing, the idea that one must give up part of their culture to obtain parts of a new one undermines the importance of cultures in one’s life. In chapter 14 “The Melting Pot” of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman shows the challenges and hardships that Hmong immigrants faced when immigrating to America to show the power that an environment has on a person’s connection to their culture, and the impact that people have on the culture of the society they are entering Fadamin provides examples of the action of Americans towards to Hmong people
Through years of hard work, continuous education and seizing every opportunities placed before him, he was able to prosper and assimilate almost seamlessly into the American fabric of the Los Angeles landscape. His life and experiences for the most part were ethnically and racially blind with only distant brushes with racial tension. William Meada was an example of the Hawaiian Japanese Americans that prospered and assimilated well into the fabric of America despite the racial and ethnic tension of Los Angeles’s history and maybe even because of it. Born on the island of Oahu in the town of Moiliili, with the Hawaiian “locals” custom of “never trying to be too flashy or fancy” as Mr. Meada put it, ingrained into his persona.
"...As Americans, regardless of background, we are really more alike than we are different. Each of us has an obligation to stand up for the rights of fellow Americans — not with rancor or bitterness, but with pride and resolution”, once stated by former U.S Congressman Norman Y. Mineta, these words are often left unheeded in today’s American society. Not a single day goes by without ignorant individuals spewing toxic lines about stereotypes another individual’s heritage. In this day and age, it is beyond inconceivable that discrimination in any shape or size still exists in our world, let alone our nation. Undoubtedly, this is an issue that we must address, and the first step in solving it is to adhere to Mr. Mineta’s statement.
In our society, racism is deeply ingrained in America. The U.S. has had a history of oppressive race-based legislation; these include slavery, concentration camps that held Japanese Americans, as well as Native Americans forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. These examples encompass a theory known as the Critical Race Theory (CRT). Following months of appeals for racial equality and anti-racism efforts, a debate over CRT erupted in 2020 about whether the concept should be taught in schools and questions arose about what the theory truly teaches. CRT can help trace racism throughout America’s history and determine how it can affect minorities through cultural perceptions of race.
Every Resident Advisor (RA) answers the on-call phone with a bit of apprehension, but when the caller tells you that they are concerned that their friend may hurt herself physically, all your nerves stand on edge. It was this experience and others like it that reaffirmed my decision to pursue a career in the Healthcare field with a specific interest in mental health. My life’s journey began on a small multiracial island where we believed and practiced “every creed and race find an equal place,” these words taken from our country’s national anthem. In our multicultural society, religion played a large role in influencing the societal norms and practices which were of a conservative nature.
First, Gravlee explains the cultural perception of race in the United States and how
The historical lineage between the African and Asian diasporas present a reciprocal relationship of influence and experience. Throughout the passage of time, these bodies of people have been both opposing forces and allies; in response to the racial tensions surrounding their respective groups, in their corresponding environments. Interactions between Africans and Asians created a dynamic that whites often felt threatened by but also used to wield power and institute dissension among the groups. By utilizing facets of colorblindness, multiculturalism, primordialism, polyculturalism, and Afro-orientalism, racial formation will examined as it exists within the Afro-Asian dynamic. American meritocracy presents a front that states that individuals may succeed and attain power on a basis of exclusively ability and talent, regardless of other factors such as race and
“At certain times I have no race; I am me.” “I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads.” “I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored.” Throughout the article the authors show numerous ways to good core value.
Liu uses this strategy to explain to us why Americans have a hard time pulling away from traditional culture and embracing multiculturalism. This stems from the fact that in the past, politics and media coverage during the beginning of the culture wars put the two in contention. He acknowledges in the article that “The assumption was that multiculturalism sits in polar opposition to a traditional common culture” (Liu 10), in contrast, Liu wants his readers to understand that this is not the case. He also negates the mentality people hold that non whites didn’t play a role in shaping America. He uses Ronald Takaki’s argument that says, “Since well before the formation of the United States, the United States has been shaped by non whites (Liu 11)”.
Historically, groups of people whose “label” is comprised of conjunctive ethnicities experience a difficult time finding their true identity, but identity is found when unidentifiable individuals find a common goal. In the course of the last two weeks, we explored a concept called “Pan-Ethnicity” which deals with the unification of multiple ethnicities. It’s concept and practice is displayed by Yen Le Espiritu’s “Coming Together: The Asian American Movement”, and in chapter eight and nine of Diane C. Fujino’s book, “Samurai Among Panthers” respectively. In Espiritu’s text, a pan-ethnic organization or more specifically, a pan-Asian organization did two things for the Asian American movement.
Fahad Albrahim Response 1: Review/Summary: “Whiteness as property” is an article written by Cheryl Harris, in which she addresses the subject of racial identity and property in the United States. Throughout the article, professor Harris attempts to explain how the concept of whiteness was initiated to become a form of racial identity, which evolved into a property widely protected in American law (page 1713). Harris tackles a number of facts that describe the roots of whiteness as property in American history at the expense of minorities such as Black and American natives (page 1709). Additionally, Harris describes how whiteness as property evolved to become seen as a racial privilege in which the whites gained more benefits, whether
Change Starts With You: An Analysis of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” 1980s pop megastars were responsible for guiding pop culture into a revolution of emerging trends. A decade full of discrimination, immigration, homosexuality, poverty, and health crises, where the public looked towards celebrities for inspiration. Michael Jackson, King of Pop broke more social barriers than any other icon of his time. Michael’s 1987 hit, “Man in the Mirror” was an upbeat pop song that inspired a revolution. The soulful melody brings attention to the need for change in a world full of discrimination, narcissism, and neglect, while provoking the thought that change begins with ‘you’.
Known as the "Polka dot Queen ", Kusama started using polka dots and nets as motifs and created fantastic paintings in watercolors, pastels and oils as early as about ten years old. In 1957, she left Japan to the States and she exhibited large paintings, soft sculptures, and environmental sculptures using mirrors and electric lights in Seattle and New York. Yayoi Kusama is also good at using mirror and water to express her idea of Infinite propagation. From the time of her New York resident period to the present, mirrors have become one of the integral materials that she has used repeatedly.(p114, We love Yayoi Kusama) One of her early example is the Infinity Mirror Room(1965)这一个作品介绍不够Though