In this world, most people are born into an environment that bubbles them from different cultures and ideas. Rarely are there people, who are born into a sheltered life, that are open to the customs and traditions of other people. At Troy High School, the people are privileged to be able to interact with such diverse people and the children that grow up in this situation have a advantage in dealing with the real world. These people are able to accept other races and cultures much more easily than, for example, the limited life of the minister's son in "Fish Cheeks". Robert, the minister's son, reacts to a new scene with what people would call a rude gesture as he "grimaced" and he sat through the meal while "looking down at his plate with a reddened face" (Tan 94). His awkward reactions are the result of his upbringing that could hurt him in the future. It is far better to learn to live in harmony with other cultures than to hurt others because of your ignorance. However, this is changing with time. More and more people have friends that are a different race. 2/3 of people say that they have more interracial friendships than their parents did. This is a big step up from Amy Tan's time when different races were thought of as weird and embarrassing.
Resources:
Brownstein, Ronald. "Diversity Now." Www.nationaljournal.com. 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 8 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/demographics/diversity-now-20120418>.
"Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan
I like your word choice "bubbles" and it's nice that you pointed out how much more accepting the world is now in terms of race compared to Amy Tan's time. Its easy to forget that people weren't always this accepting. Nice points!
ReplyDeleteI don't quite get the first part with "bubbles" - what do you mean with that word? Also, I find it interesting that most people think Robert is rude; I thought that he was as embarrassed by his family's lack of understanding of Chinese culture as Amy Tan is of her family's ways. I think they are both embarrassed by the differences between their cultures, finding it "weird and embarrassing," as you say.
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