Analysis Of Grace Hsiang 's Poem, Fobs, And ' Twinkies ' : The New Discrimination Is Interracial

Humans define race by how they conceive and categorize different social realities. Thus, race is often referred to as a social construct. The differences in skin color and facial characteristics have led most of society to classify humans into groups instead of individuals. These constructs affect us all, and they often result in situations where majority racial groups cause undue suffering to those that are part of the minority. The understanding of race as a social construct is best illustrated by the examination of racial issues within our own culture, specifically those that have plagued the history of the United States.

There was a time when America was segregated; Caucasians and African Americans were forced to attend different restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. However, the era of segregation has been terminated; now America embraces and appreciates the various cultures and ethnicities that create this melting pot several people call home. Likewise, it is this melting pot, or mosaic, of races that multitudes of individuals have identified themselves with. Thus, race and ethnicity does matter for it portrays vital and crucial roles in the contemporary American society. Furthermore, ethnicity and race brings communities together in unity, determines which traditions and ideals individuals may choose to value, and imposes an impediment for it categorizes humans unjustly.

Defining someone by their skin color is an everyday phenomenon. Many people see a specific shade of skin and believe they know exactly how that person is going to speak, carry, and illustrate themselves. It seems to be embedded in one’s head at a young age to have specific views given by family, friends, and coworkers such as, believing interracial relationships are immoral, or it being acceptable to judge others according to their skin color. In the articles “Race is a Four Letter Word” by Teja Arboleda and “Mr. Z” by M. Carl Holman, the color of the authors skin plays a substantial role on how they are treated and perceived. Living in a society that doesn’t understand one’s culture can make their life extremely difficult.

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

The United States of America has been called a “mixing pot” since the birth of the nation. Everyone, especially politicians and educators, will proudly declare that the U.S. is a land of unmatched diversity. The U.S. seems to always be portrayed as a highly cultural territory, harboring a vast population of many races. Admittedly, the United States has come a long in terms of eliminating racial barriers and pursuing equality. All around the world, America is seen as a country of colors, yet mass media does not recognize that fact.

When hearing the words, “African Americans,” “Hispanics,”or “Caucasians,” the majority of people in America will generally categorize the traits of these nationalities based upon their roles displayed in the media, books, movies, or first-hand experience. The actions being made by their associations is stereotyping; defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “[believing] unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same,” revealing that even unknowingly, people are allowing nationalities to fall under a list of behavioral, cultural, and moral traits.

Racism and racial stereotypes have existed throughout human history. The radical belief associated by thinking the skin color, language, or a person’s nationality is the reason that someone is one way or another has become extremely detrimental to society. Throughout human existence it has sparked tension between groups of people and ultimately influenced wars and even caused slavery. Racism in America dates back to when Native Americans were often attacked, relocated, and assimilated into European culture. Since then, racism within the states has grown to include various other cultures as well. In the essays by Brent Staples, Bharati Mukherjee, and Manuel Munoz, they discuss the various causes as well as the effects that racial stereotyping can place on a victim and the stigma it leaves behind for the society to witness.

America is a melting pot of different people, culture, and religion. Although there are millions of different people from different parts of the world, it 's citizens would like to appear united and patriotic. To foreigners, every person living in the United States is an American; however, within the country, there are divisions among the society through a concept called race. No citizen calls themselves an American to another American. The individual labels themselves "Hispanics, Asians, [or] Africans," (Rodriguez 119). America may appear uniform, yet it’s citizens seem to want individuality. And here is the paradox: those same citizens also detest the concept of race. When one is deemed by society as different because they are unable to be labeled, the individual hates this sense of distinctiveness. Richard Rodriguez 's memoir, Brown: The Last Discovery of America, discusses this peculiar concept of race by appealing to the reader 's pathos and logos in order for one to obtain a greater understanding of the idea.

“Nothing in this world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”-Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, racism is now a part of human nature. The environment and living conditions people endure is constantly analyzed and evaluated by personal views and values. The articles, “FOBs” vs. “Twinkies”, written by Grace Hsiang and “Black Men and Public Space”, written by Brent Staples, both apply to the issues of interracial and intraracial conditions. Hsiang informs the reader of interracial discrimination and ethnic harassment, not only with Asian culture, but for all whose families are not originally from America, she goes into detail about how people expect her to behave exactly how her ancestors did because she is

What do you think of when you hear the word discrimination? In the articles written by Grace Hsiang and Brent Staples we get two different looks at what people think of when they hear the word discrimination. In Grace Hsiang’s article “FOB’s vs. Twinkies The New Discrimination is Interracial” Grace tells about a time where in her sociology class she was a part of a discussion about discrimination and racism. In this discussion she found that most of the discrimination to be by the people from the same race. The Asian Americans divide themselves into two groups, the FOBs, who stay true to their culture and practices.

I claim that the functionality of the world relies heavily on race and ethnicity to make assumptions on individuals, leading to the continuation of stereotypes. However, while this is all true, people are confusing race with ethnicity causing assumptions to be even more unfair. The lifestyle of an individual is what defines them not the genetics that define their appearance. In Olson’s “The End of Race: Hawaii and the Mixing of Peoples,” he discusses how stereotypes and discrimination exist due to different backgrounds and culture not by race which is evident in Hawaii in which most of the population is mixed and have had cultures blend into one coherent culture that everyone accepts. Eventually it’ll reach to a point where we will not see an individual as a race with distinct traits that can be categorized but instead as a person with individuality. Moreover In “Paper Tigers,” writer Wesley Yang believes that Asians have been raised in certain ways that have made them successful throughout school but has also simultaneously crippled them in the job market and much like the Glass Ceiling, Asians have inherited a Bamboo Ceiling thus stating that ethnic background has an effect with the success that one experiences through life. Both authors claim that ethnicity, not race is the cause of stereotypes and inequality.

Everyday, we as human beings see men and women of different races and colors going about life. Some of these people are celebrities, our coworkers, and friends. People that are of different ethnic diversity than white Europeans are seen as the minority. This is a fact that is backed by many references across the world and even in articles we read today. In Enzo Colombo’s article “Multiculturalisms: An overview in western societies” he believes that minorities should be given the same opportunities as everyone else, he starts with the political figures then applies his theory to the society as a whole. However, in Douglas Hartmann’s article “Reflections on Race, Diversity, And the Crossroads of Multiculturalism” he explains that diversity is associated with race and filtered through a racial lens meaning the same ethnic people are unaware of the disparities, inequalities, and injustices that are associated with social difference in this country. Instead of describing ways to fix the unethical discrimination of minority groups, Hartmann gives an analysis of how other people view minorities, leading me to take a stand agreeing with Colombo’s viewpoints. When I hear the word multiculturalism, I associate personality with it. Although biology makes up our genes, DNA, and what we look like, biology doesn’t make us who we are as people. Biology is just something we are born with and stuck with, only we can decide how we act around others.

American society shapes minorities by using culture as an aesthetic playing ground rather than celebrating it. During the scene

In America, it’s native born are naïve to the opportunities that govern their social mobility, both horizontally and vertically. While foreigners, must start a new social identity regardless of their past life, they undergo not only extreme prejudice but also discrimination, inequity and unjust policies that further oppress them. One of the many ways the native born have oppressed foreigners is through stereotypes; more commonly known as “myths”. Although stereotypes are general conceptual views of social groups, it is too broad a generalization to justify the oppression that foreigners experience. For example, a few common myths or stereotypes of the Asian-ethnicity is their excellence in mathematics, have narrow eyes or their unique phonetics when speaking another language. Such is not the case for the general population of Asian-Americans native to the land, but the same could be said for any other ethnic group. At first glance, these myths yield a heavy negative connotation but it is only when we challenge these myths do we begin to realize these myths do not accurately represent the social group without oppression. However, these stereotypes may be used to describe the social group in a positive way. For some, the ideology of these stereotypes may facilitate a pride in upholding the characteristic of their ethnicity. Thus, for each generalized statement that does not account for the unique outliers to the statement, there will always exist a positive perception of the

Whether you believe it or not, racial discrimination is not a controversial matter of the past and has a profound impact on society. Nowadays we still inherit unconsciously misconceptions and prejudices that happen to be unnoticed in our day by day. Consequently, in order to raise awareness upon the connotation of this matter, we must educate people on behalf of assertiveness and comprehension. Therefore, it is remarkably important to acknowledge: the negative impact of racial discrimination on the individual and society, the necessity of derogating misconceptions and the values of cultural diversity.