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##lational And Intersectional Similarities In The Story 'Desi Hoop Dreams'

Decent Essays

Intro
In the story “Desi Hoop Dreams” a character named Mustafa expresses relational and intersectional dimensions. The story compares and contrasts identities of different cultures within the Atlanta basketball society. Race, class, gender, and ethnicity are all demonstrated through different ways in the eyes of Mustafa. Mustafa’s ideas about himself and others give examples of what South Asian American life is like in the United States. We see the relational and intersectional identities in the story when Mustafa is playing basketball, going to clubs, and eating at Waffle House with his friends.
Many South Asian Americans are often stereotyped as terrorist figures or nerds in the United States. Their masculinity is also questioned on the basketball court. Mustafa tries to mimic American masculinity and citizenship by playing basketball in different leagues. This is a relational identity, because he looks at Americans and contrasts their intersecting identities to his own. We see Mustafa acting masculine when he tells Khan to “man up” and “be a beast” (Thangaraj 11). This is ironic because he is acting like the perceived American when talking to a fellow desi. More perceptions of typical South Asian Americans on the court were seen when Mustafa was playing with Emory University students. Little Sheik and the three others were “lacking basketball skills” and “didn’t provide competition” (Thangaraj 27). On the other hand, Mustafa was playing on a way higher level. The

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