Juan Garcia

web review

A Literary Review of the Works of:

Sandy Murphy, The Distinction between Immigrant and Minority Literature

Tanya Stanley, American Multiculturalism:  Social Contracts, Marked Minorities, and a Fusion of Immigrants and Minorities

Kristin Hamon, Crucial Conversations: Talking about Race and Ethnicity through Immigrant/Minority Narratives

            In performing the web review, I attempted to tackle readings that discussed the immigrant experience.  The review of the readings places me in the role of comparing the experiences of other immigrants with my own, and seeing how they are viewed by others.  Each of the works tackled the issue with a comparison to the secondary view of immigrants as a minority. 

Kristin Hamon states the differences the best: “immigrant narrative is characterized with hope for new beginnings, the minority narrative is defined by the remembrance of oppression by the dominant culture.”  Hamon finds in her analysis of the different readings that part of an immigrant’s cultural heritage is the oppression by the dominant culture in the US.  She states the true immigrant experience, in coming to America for better opportunities and a better life, first you have to overcome the fact that you’re not like everyone else. 

Sandy Murphy discusses the differences in cultures of immigrant and minority, by comparing similarities.  She states that “at the heart of things we are very much the same.”  In discussing the effects of the color code on immigrants she shows the repression that occurs from this, and how it affects the immigrant, but comes back to the immigrant’s desire to be part of America, even if America puts up a few barriers.  The core of her discourse is that regardless of the color of a person’s skin or the nation of origin, that person seeks the same things as any other American.

Finally, Tanya Stanley discusses her findings that the minority immigrant can never truly assimilate, because they are “marked minorities”, and cannot get past the color code.  She also discusses the social contract, the guarantee of inalienable rights also mentioned by Martin Luther King. This contract cannot be fulfilled, as the assimilation process can never be complete due the color of skin.  One can wear the suits, go to school, mimic mannerisms and learn the language, but will always be a darker, and one of the immigrants.

In reviewing the assignments, I found that there is a better understanding of the immigrant experience than I had previously hoped for.  In particular, Hamons references to the white lady that makes everyone uncomfortable, made me chuckle.  In dealing with any problem, one must acknowledge that there is one, before a solution can be found.  In dealing with minority and immigrant issues, I was pleased to find that there was general understanding of the problems that are day to day issues for people of color and that we are all seeking the same things.  If I took anything back from these readings, it was this.  There are people willing to ask the uncomfortable questions, and there are people that are willing to look past color and nation of origin to see the hungry desire for the dream.

essay

To Be or Not to Be, Racial Integration in the 18^th and 19^th Century

“You can’t be ghetto and talk about stocks, it just doesn’t go”, overheard at a local Starbucks.

          Assimilation or resistance; this is the great internal debate that every culturally and socially marginalized individual must face upon entering society.  Does one enter school or the workforce and fail because they are different or succeed because they are the same?  These elements  are part of the greater whole in the study of the minority struggle.  Within the context of this analysis, the works of Song of Solomon by Tony Morrison, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African by Olaudah Equiano all provide examples of eighteenth, nineteenth, and contemporary examples of the various forms of resistance and assimilation.

          In dealing with day to day interactions within a group, the minority must decide if the responses will fulfill the expected “majority group” reactions, or if instead that person will react in a way more in line with their own culture.  In effect, will an African American begin to “act white” in order to fit in, or will that person reflect the impressions of their own upbringing and family culture. 

          Within the novel Song of Solomon, Morrison writes about polar opposites of the roles of the assimilation and resistance desire of minority groups.  Macon came to represent the side of assimilation, attempting to be part of the dominant social order, to succeed in business and provide opportunities for his family.  He creates a successful real estate business, and in the process alienates the African Americans around him.  He was unforgiving of tenets, all black, which would not or could not pay the rent.  His response to a man threatening suicide was to give him the rent—then kill himself. (pp. 26-27)  His materialistic values are carried on by his son, Milkman.  He too works in real estate, collecting rents for his father.  His life is the journey of the book itself however, as he confronts his father’s acceptance of the flawed “American Dream”, but rejection of his success by the whites. 

          In his journey, Milkman becomes best friends with the polar opposite of his father, Guitar.  Guitar is a violent individual, which is a part of a group called the Seven Days.  The group takes on vigilante actions in the name of justice.  In the absence of a response from the courts, the group murders, rapes, or mutilates random whites in the same way that crimes against blacks were committed.  Although the revelation of Guitar’s involvement repels him initially, it is this same ability that causes him to involve him in the gold heist against Pilate.  The ruthlessness that could murder and rape, could also rob from an old woman.

          These were not the only important representations of assimilation behavior.  In chapter nine, Pilate performs her “Aunt Jemima” act in order to secure the release of Guitar and Milkman.  By acting the way that the police expected her to act, and providing a story they found believable, she was able to get them released.  Milkman was ashamed by this act, which he saw as humiliating for her.  It was because it degraded her, that it worked though.  The police only saw a sad old woman, and any other behavior would only have complicated the situation.

          Milkman never truly accepts the white culture.  He travels to Virginia to explore his past and discovers other secrets about the people in his community in Michigan, such as the origin of the gold, the truth about the bones of Pilate’s father, and the villainous and irrational nature of Guitar.  The story ends with Milkman’s possible death at the hands of Guitar.  Although it can be argued that he began to become a better person, he never went back to his father’s “white” business.

In the case of Frederick Douglass, he discovered that to resist was the only route open to him, though his opinion did not begin this way.  His previous existence had been as a slave in Maryland; no knowledge of his previous history or culture other than the stories told by other slaves or what he saw in the course of his day.  He assimilated to his role as a slave, because he knew no better.  He had been raised with the impression of his status in life, and understood that unfortunate things would happen if he resisted.  Upon going to Baltimore however, he began to experience the full spectrum of what his life could be.  He began to be exposed to the city and the various attitudes of different owners.  It was with Mrs. Auld that he first learned to read, learning letters and deciphering words.  It was short lived however, as her husband quickly ended the lessons.  In his words, lay the seed of Douglass’s future discontent:

“He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.  As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm.  It would make him discontented and unhappy.” (pp. 57, Chapter 6)

The ability to learn frees the mind and destroys the slave.  At the age of twelve, he obtained a copy of the “Columbian Orator”, a common rhetoric textbook of the time and in reading he felt the pain of his state, “It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy.”(pp. 61) 

It reinforced his desire to escape, and in adulthood, he did escape.  His resistance to the establishment didn’t last however, as he later began to work with the government under the Lincoln, Grant, and Harrison administration in an effort to keep African American rights in the spotlight.  In order to support the growing anti-slavery movement, he had to become part of the government that had supported the men who kept him in bondage.  In a controversial act for both sides of the abolitionist movement, he married his white secretary in 1884.(pp. 151-152)  It was a perfect example of the racial culture, but went against the racial ideology. In effect, he assimilated as a slave, resisted his bondage and escaped, then assimilated again combining ethnic identities with the roles and life components he needed to survive.  

Finally, Equiano’s Interesting Narrative shows an individual that strives to maintain his identity while remaining in bondage.  It is notable that he tries to retain his heritage, his “nation”, even though he is given many opportunities to assimilate with different tribal groups.  He gives his reasoning very plainly:

They wanted sometimes to ornament me in the same manner, but I would not suffer them; hoping that I might sometime be among a people who did not thus disfigure themselves. (Chapter 2, Paragraph 17)

In the same paragraph he makes reference to nations like his own.  He constantly attempts to find his own “countrymen” (Ch. 2, Par. 22) to associate with, even at the cost of loneliness, fear and despair. 

          This fear and despair manifests itself in his constant fear of cannibalism at the hands of different slave masters.  In some ways, the constant fear of being eaten may be a reference to the integration he avoids so ardently.  He has a fear of being consumed by each culture he encounters; the more different, the greater the fear of being eaten—or assimilated.  It’s common in history to run across cultures on all continents that ritualistically consumed the flesh of their enemies or family to draw power or wisdom from the flesh.  It may be possible that Equiano had heard of such rituals, and wanted to maintain his power for his own, that he had no interest in becoming part of something else.

          The final paragraph however, turns this around.  He begins to notice the differences in himself from his playmate Mary.  She is washed and her face is cleaned, leaving it “very rosy”.  After looking for his own countrymen in each new land and situation, he finds himself attempting to wash his face and become the same “colour” as Mary. 

          In each work, there are different levels and examples of the integration and assimilation process of the African American.  In each time period however, there is less opportunity to be something else.  For Equiano, there was the possibility of going back, of maintaining his national language and heritage.  For Douglass, the counterculture was only the brutal and short life of a rebellious slave.  In Milkman’s case, one could be a criminal wanderer or could be part of the meritocracy, that wasn’t very meritous towards African Americans.   Each story showed more of a drift towards being able to be part of something, or being part of nothing, the discussed “minority dilemma.”

          The largest part of the minority dilemma of assimilation or resistance is te discrimination encountered today.  In many ways, the ascent of Barack Obama to the presidency showed the argument the best.  Some groups accused him of being too white, others of having a “black agenda”.  He assimilated, but was roundly criticized for his earlier explorations of his Kenyan cultural heritage.  He is an incredibly successful example of the minority dilemma, but someone who has had to come to terms with his choices, much as Macon did in Song of Solomon and Douglass in his own life.

Juan Garcia                                                                             February 26, 2010

CRCL 5731 Amer Multicult Litr                                           Research Proposal

Middle Eastern Women & Contemporary Society

As a cross cultural studies student, I’ve found myself a bit out of my element in a dedicated, but fascinating, literature class.  Reading about the struggle for social justice through the works of the people that I’ve studied has helped in better understanding some of the nuances that conventional anthropological study doesn’t.  Ultimately, I look for opportunities to advance my study of cross cultural studies, and to that end I’d like to focus my project on contemporary women in the Middle East. I would like to break down the research into two parts, a focus on the struggle of the Middle Eastern woman and then a more focused study of women in Iran. 

The topic of Middle Eastern Studies is what brought me to the field of anthropology, as well as sociology.  This class project gives me the opportunity to study my favored topic of research, while at the same time, focusing on a marginalized, underrepresented group.  The irst part of my research will focus on Contemporary Middle Eastern Women and their struggle for political and social equality.  Though a broad topic, I hope to give an overview on common misconceptions, the struggle for social justice, and a final SITREP-what the present state of affairs looks like. 

I’d like to focus the second part of my research on the status of women in Iran for several reasons.  Much like many people in 1979, the hostage crisis and the Iranian revolution left an indelible impression on my psyche.  I would come back to the topic in literature and culture again and again, with my most recent exposure in Dr. Curtis’s Women of the Middle East.  This will give me the opportunity to focus on a topic that I could in that class. 

The most intriguing point I found: the nation recently characterized as a member of the “axis of evil”, has one of the first Women’s Studies programs in the Middle East, at the University of Tehran.  How could I not want to find out more?