Keith Vyvial

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Writing Time: 3 hours

            To my surprise, I have found that reading and evaluating other essays relating to immigrant and minority literature has really benefited me in understanding the topic.  In reading new views and perspectives, I have been able to further learn and understand beyond the classroom discussions.  My own opinions are often reshaped and influenced by these new ideas.  Disagreeing with the other students’ viewpoints even help me by enabling me to look at my own ideas more thoroughly in order to best defend them against the opposing views. 

            Carrie Arnett’s essay was of particular interest to me by discussing the many layers of the Color Code of Objective 3.  She states:

As the color code brands people either black and white, we must not forget the shades of grey that exists in the American culture.  Often intertwined and confused about their own culture, lies a group that does not have a definite place in either the immigrant or the minority narrative.  Certain groups, such as Mexican Americans and Afro-Caribbeans may not align specifically with one group, but instead have mixed characteristics of both.  Nevertheless, all three narratives, the immigrant, the minority, and the “in between” groups, experience sacrifice and hardships throughout their own journeys. 

This made me look at the Color Code in a completely different way.  I was used to limiting myself to mentions in the narratives associating white/black with good/bad.  Carrie used the white/black association to discuss the group of people who exhibit traits of both immigrants and minorities – the “New World Immigrants.”  The idea of this group being “grey” is very understandable when looking at the fact that they do not “align specifically with one group, but instead have mixed characteristics of both.”  I also like how she mentions how all three groups face the same challenges.  Her Color Code idea seems different from the mention in the Objectives, but I really like how she used it to explain a group that is a bit harder to classify.

            Carrie also mentions:

I have always found it trifling to decipher the difference between immigrants and non-immigrants, since America itself was created by people who migrated from other countries.  However, since taking this course I have grown to realize and better understand the immigrant narrative.  Like the founders who came to America searching for a new type of government, immigrants too, cross the great blue ocean with the hopes and dreams of securing a better future.

I really liked this because it reinforced ideas that have been running through my own head lately.  This truly is a country of immigrants since the dominant culture arose from people who were searching for a better life.  This is something sought and deserved by all people.  Carrie uses Anzia Yezierska’s story “Soap and Water” to reinforce her ideas.  This is a great example, as the narrator discusses the hardships she endures in search of the American Dream.  That story made me understand that the “dream” is different for each person.  Every individual has to discover what America is to his or herself, whether that person is classified an immigrant or a minority.

            I also read Amy Noblitt’s essay “It’s Not that Black and White; More Gray” because I wanted to see how her ideas of “gray” and the Color Code compared with those of Carrie Arnett.  What I found was not as directly about this Color Code.  She does seem to suggest that the American Dream comes with a price:

According to our objectives, one of the main differences between minorities and immigrants are the journey to the United States rather than their skin color.  The difference between the two, though, should end there.  Unfortunately there is an overpowering force called the Dominant Culture, which demands that immigrants and minorities alike should sacrifice their own culture to the American Dream.  This false idol asks that they give up so much of themselves, but it does not guarantee success in return.

This mention of a “false idol” gives me an image of the Statue of Liberty as a monolithic Biblical idol.  I tend to think this is a harsh view of the Dominant Culture.  The Dominant Culture can also be changed by other cultures.  American culture seems to change and evolve continuously.  As mentioned before, this is a country of immigrants.  She is correct that success is not guaranteed, but many do persevere and find some version, if not an idealistic version, of the American Dream.  The stories we have read display a number of differing experiences.  Some chose to distance themselves from their culture, such as “How to Date a Browngirl…” by Junot Diaz.  Amy mentions this fact in her essay.  I agree with her suggestion that this is an attempt to become more “acceptable” in the Dominant Culture.  However, it is a choice that was made.  Many people do still hold on to their culture.

            In defending her argument, Amy also mentions Gish Jen’s story, “In the American Society.”  Regarding it, she says:

The daughters in Jen’s story can not wait to be able to join the country club and they push their mother to join and use the prejudice of the country club members to get them invited to a country club function. 

I did not really see these prejudices that she suggests.  Mrs. Lardner asked them to attend the party to help them out.  If they endear the members, it will not be by forgetting their culture. 

            Kristen Bird’s essay “Stages in the Immigrant and Minority Narrative” really helped to deepen my understanding of Objective 2’s Basic Stages of the Immigrant Narrative, providing story examples for each step.  Especially interesting to me was her discussion of Stage 2: Shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination.  In discussing Sui Sin Far’s “In the Land of the Free,” she says:

The adversity she meets strikes at the emotional level first, but then at the economic level when the mother sells precious family heirlooms to pay a lawyer to intercede with the government on her behalf.  Immigrant narratives often contain stories of people encountering struggles on several dimensions, such as social, political, economic, familial or emotional.  These difficulties arise as the traditional, often defined by the family unit, clashes with modernity, often defined by individuality and freedom.  Perhaps this is why the modern bureaucracy in Far’s story was not as concerned with the traditional value of home and family that the Chinese embrace.

Kristen shows how this stage strikes on several levels.  The couple of the story first meets a form of resistance in the bureaucratic red tape which causes them to not keep their baby with them.  Kristen really helped me take this to a higher level by contrasting it with family values of other cultures.  The stage further arises in the form of exploitation as the lawyer takes advantage of the couple; they give him everything of value for him to help them get their baby.  Grief also arises as the baby no longer wants to go with his mother.

            I really learned a great deal from the essays.  They helped me better understand some of the objectives on new levels.  All of them in one form or another helped me to reinforce my own thoughts that the United States of America is a product of a very diverse group of people.  This diversity and influence upon the Dominant Culture is what makes the country great for me.