So, I apologize that I'm a few days late. It seems that going home for Thanksgiving and being in the middle of nowhere at Grandma's house means no internet.
I've thoroughly enjoyed this course so far. I feel it is one of the courses I have taken so far at the university level that is really engaging, and where I have to actually think, not just memorize.
Although I didn't initially enjoy the first three works we analyzed, looking back in retrospect, I find that these works were like a shot of vodka -- a bad taste at first, but with lingering taste later that makes you feel good.
A theme I connected with that was strung throughout Ruiz de Burton, Rivera, and Marti, along with "The Salt of the Earth" was the concept of "American". Of who is, and who is not. Being born and raised in the states, it is a concept that has been present my entire life. I feel as if in both private and public primary education in the US, we learn about how great our country is because it is "a melting pot of all cultures". But once you step outside to recess, you see all the Filipino kids playing together, all the African-American kids playing together, and all of the Caucasian kids playing together. And somehow the image of "American" is one that is primarily white.
To me, it seems like this...You can be an American if you parents were immigrants. You can be an American if your grandparents were immigrants. But only if your parents or grandparents (etc) immigrated from Europe. A family could have immigrated from China 150 years ago, and this family would somehow be viewed by the American public as "less American" than a family that immigrated from Germany 25 years ago. There is so much discrimination in the States. I can feel it from living in a liberal area of Washington State, and I can't even begin to talk about the almost bi-polarization of races in other parts of the US I have visited--southern California, North Carolina, South Dakota. It seems as if the US wants to call itself a "melting pot" or a "racial quilt" but wants to be able to pick what ingredients go into the pot or what fabric is used in the quilt.
Why is that?
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4 comments:
Wow! I thought that this was a powerful blog with some great thoughts! (not to mention the genius class/vodka analogy...perhaps some shots before class would be appropriate? haha) It's interesting to read your views on the US 'melting pot' because I never saw the states that way. To me, it has always been, as you said, a primarily white culture. That's the image that's given off. Do you feel that Canada is more like the image the states are trying to portray (ie: patchwork quilt)? I remember in elementary when there was a high ratio of first nations to caucasians in the school, but we'd all be together playing soccer at recess. Some of my best friends lived on the reserve. To me, Canada is definitely a mixing pot.
I like your discussion about who is and who is not American. "American" is an interesting term in itself...because technically we are all "American", those of us who live in the Americas.
I often wonder why there is not a term for estadounidense in English...I think this is unfortunate, since the English term "American" has come to mean "United States of American", and does not encompass the rest of the Americas.
But I agree with you that the "American" identity has been created and I like your analogy of a melting pot with pre-determined ingredients.
And I wonder, is it possible tor e-claim the term "American" to mean all of us who reside in the Americas or is it too late?
Even if you are born in the U.S., if you uphold any external cultural values you might be called un-American. African Americans are American...many of their ancestors were in America way before the ancestors of other white Americans...but they are definitely discriminated against largely by other Americans. This melting-pot-American-above-anything-else attitude isn't viable in the modern world. Everybody is from everywhere...it could be 2 or 3 places, and no one is from nowhere. That's what being Chicano is kind of about...being one thing and another thing and being neither thing. I agree that Canada's attitude towards multiculturalism is the most modern. (this post is kind of all over the place haha)
It all pertains to people's notions of identity and recognition of it, whether it be preconceived or derived from a few personal experiences. The idea of having an identity can only really be identified by that person themselves, because there is no concrete agreement upon what makes someone an American. I choose not to identify myself with any nation or origin, because I feel it's unimportant to my character.
I find the reading the works a bit like a sake bomb...difficult to get through, proud to say I've done it, and having trouble recognizing anything that's going on.
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