Is The Theme Of Blaxicans And Other Reinvented Americans By Richard Rodriguez

In his essay “Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans” Richard Rodriguez’s use of irony supports his claim that assimilation is imminent by exaggerating his ideas in order to support his arguments. In an interview with a British Broadcasting Corporation show, Rodriguez is introduced as being “in favor” of assimilation to which he responds, “I am not in favor of assimilation any more than I am in favor of the Pacific Ocean or clement weather.(lines 141-143)” Rodriguez’s intent when exaggerating his idea that he is no more in favor of assimilation than he is of things that exist without explanation, like the Pacific Ocean, is done in order to exemplify the way he views assimilation. Rodriguez argues that assimilation is inevitable. The Pacific

Richard Rodriguez in the article “Blaxicans’ and Other Reinvented Americans” is suggesting that instead of America having a Canadian model of multiculturalism they should adapt to the Mexican or mestizaje model. He then gives examples throughout the article of different cultures assimilating with one another, and how whether or not we like it, it is going to happen. He being a Hispanic man, assimilates to the Chinese culture because he grew up in a Chinese neighborhood and it had an effect on him in a way to where he felt that he himself was Chinese not by race but by culture. A survey was then conducted in 1997 that based the race relation in America and was only concerned with the white and black Americans. It is no longer about the race you are, it is about the color of your skin. He gives examples on the different types of multiculturalism among other cultures.

In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans,” Rodriguez supports his main idea that a person can choose their own identity by giving an example from his own life experience. Rodriguez shares that he met a mixed girl in San Diego at a convention of mixed-race where they have to identify themselves as one race. He says, “This girl said that her mother was Mexican and her father was African, [but the girl considers herself as “Blaxican”]” (lines 188-189). By calling herself “Blaxican,” she reinvented her identity by creating a new word, just like how Rodriguez said, “ by reinventing language, she is reinventing America.” (line 189)

Race vs Culture Richard Rodriguez's essay “ Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” claim the American race does not defines American personalities, but the culture that people follow. In this essay, Rodriguez states “For there is no such thing as a Hispanic race”( lines 93-94). This illustrates there is no Hispanic race, but there is Hispanic culture. This means that culture is taught while race you are born with.

In the essay, “ Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans.” Richard Rodriguez's suggest that an individual's identity is based on the cultural beliefs of oneself rather than based upon the individual’s race. Richard Rodriguez's states, “ I am Chinese and that is because I live in a Chinese city and because I want to be Chinese” (lines 163-165). Richard Rodriguez interprets his identity as Chinese in a manner of freedom and choice. Richard Rodriguez states that he is Chinese because he has the power to claim his own identity.

Social science teaches that a person’s self identity is a reflection of that which other people put on the individual, in other words a person’s behavior steams more from what they see of themselves from someone else’s perspective and less from how they see themselves. In the case of the Mexicans, this concept holds true. From that, which has been studied thus far this semester, Mexicans/ Mexican Americans are good examples of this concept. Their sorted past has resulted in a new kind of Mexican American and perhaps a new kind of Mexican. Certainly the Mexicans American’s experience in this country has brought about some changes from the first generation of Mexicans who were born in this country to those who

Although one’s racial and ethnic identities are predetermined due to genetics, attachment to a particular culture is not a birthright; one has to accept and understand the community in order to fully identify with it. When Robert Chang writes “one is not born Asian American, one becomes one”, he means just that. In Chang’s opinion, having Asian blood and living on American soil is not sufficient to call oneself Asian American, but the connection to the community allows one claim to the title.

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

Many new arrivals still struggle to survive and often Chinese Americans still encounter suspicion and hostility. Chinese Americans have achieved great success and now, like so many others, they are stitching together a new American identity. As Michelle Ling, a young Chinese American, tells Bill Moyers in Program 3, “I get to compose my life one piece at a time, however I feel like it. Not to say that it’s not difficult and that there isn’t challenge all the time, but more than material wealth, you get to choose what you are, who you are.” (www.pbs.org)

Within the Mexican community, competing notions of racial identity has long existed. Aware to gradations of color in race and their shading of white and non white identity, Haney Lopez introduces the

Ethnic distinctiveness is expected to eventually disappear, when it comes to third or fourth generation children. (Golash-Boza, 2006) Ethnic distinctiveness is directly related to ethnic identification and how a person sees themselves. (Golash-Boza, 2006) In society there are African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latino(a)-Americans and Americans. The question of losing the hyphenation and just calling yourself “American” effect on integrating yourself into the American culture was raised and if so does calling yourself American rather than Latino(a) American mean that you have completely lost your ethnic identity? Ethnic identification plays a big role on cultural assimilation into the American culture. A survey was done to explore the relationship between ethnic identification and cultural assimilation and how it differs between the children of foreign born and U.S. born parents.

In this essay, I attempted to lay bare the issues of being an Asian-American and being labeled as an ethnic “other” in modern America. This label of “other” causes them to become marginalized and lose their sense of identity, belonging neither to Western culture nor Eastern culture. In order help stop this loss of identity in Asian-Americans, we must tear down the social construct of the “other” and integrate the different cultures into the melting pot of popular culture. Once we have stopped alienating different cultures, we can then have a moral society that upholds diversity and identity.

Richard Rodriguez article, “The Chinese in All of Us (1944)”, argues that many different cultures have contributed to making up the American culture. Rodriguez backs up this claim by sharing

Society has a way of making assumptions based on one’s physical characteristics. Often at times we categorize individuals to a particular social group. In regard to society’ perception of an individual this however, contributes to the development of social construction of racism. Most people want to be identified as individuals rather than a member of specific social group. As a result, our social identity contains different categories or components that were influenced or imposed. For example, I identify as a, Jamaican, Puerto Rican and a person of color. I identify racially as a person of color and ethically as Jamaican and Puerto Rican. According to Miller and Garren it’s a natural human response for people to make assumptions solely

Everyday I am on a constant race to discover who I am as an individual. I am fighting this battle whether I choose to acknowledge it or not. Donald Hernandez has written in his book Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance; he talks about major key points, but the most important one state “Third, because life chances differ greatly according to race and ethnicity in the United States, and because of the race and ethnic composition of immigrants to this country has shifted markedly during recent decades,” (3). That is true trying to be one thing is very hard in USA society has an effect of how you may become as the individual. If I were in another country they would just see as an American and nothing else, but the place that I was born and raised they see me as what my parents are Nigerians. I am not American because my parents are from Nigeria; this has been a very constant thing, because of several definitions of what it