I strongly support the views expressed by Zhou in the article. It is often said that America is a land of liberty, equality and opportunity. The gifted people get what they deserve. Asian Americans have proved their ability and they have been credited for one of the major drivers of American economy. They are called “Model Minority”. The previous generations of Asian Americans came to this land to shape their future and the future of their next generations. They got liberty and opportunities to prosper as elite Americans. It clearly indicates that America is a land of liberty and opportunity. Now the question is whether America is the land of equality. The Asian Americans have merged in the American society and they are proud to be called Americans. But it is a question whether the Asian Americans are really accepted by American society. They are not labeled as mere Americans, but they are still called “Asian-Americans”. It indicates that they have been constantly made aware that they are originally not Americans but they are immigrants. Their country of origin is not America but something else. They are still considered as foreigners because they do not belong to White Community. In fact, White community is also not originally Americans. Then why the discrimination is there just with the other ethnic groups?
I strongly perceive that America will be the land of equality in real sense when each and every American, including the immigrants will be called American. There should not be any prefix such as “Asian Americans”, “African Americans” etc. These prefixes separate the American society as a whole. They are recognized by American legal and political system. The calibers of Asian Americans or any other minority group in America should be recognized by the society as well. If they have obtained the permit of living on American land and if they have legally entitled to the citizenship of America, they should not be kept distinct from American society.
Short Response to Article 2
The racial discrimination has been much sought-after topic in literary and non-literary work. The people are aware of the racial discrimination prevalent in the multi-ethnic society like America. Europe is also not exceptional to this discrimination. The racial comments are frequently heard in both Europe and America. The writer of the article says that she has not experienced racism. In some part of American society, racism is strictly followed whereas in some parts, the society is multi-ethnic in the sense that it does not discriminate the person on the basis of racial, ethnic or religious differences. The author wants to say that perhaps it is media that hypes the issue, otherwise racism is hardly considered while living a life of a common man. It is more a political issue than social. The race plays very crucial role in determining and shaping of the political scenario in America. The writer of the article also points out that sometime the insensitivity reaches to such extent that the person is blamed for his/her low race regardless of the educational credential and the social status the person has acquired. The contradiction of American hypocrisy is that they elected their President from African American race and they humiliate the first lady due to her race. In such circumstances, can we say that America has become racist free country in real sense? Electing black president is not enough to establish equal and race-free society. The psyche of the people should be changed. The racism and ethnicity have not stopped either in America or in Europe. Unfortunately, the two regions control the whole world. If they spread inequality, how can United Nations expect that the society all over the world should be based on equality and humanity? The humanity and equality is crushed in the rich and ‘so called’ advanced countries such as America and advanced European countries. Conflictingly these advanced countries regard themselves as the saviors of the entire world.
Long Response:
There are contradictory opinions on the category of race. According to some of them, race is a biological category while some perceive it as a social category. Moreover there are also two contradictory views to determine the race of the person. According to “one drop of rule” if the person has even a drop of African ancestry, they should be treated as black. The counterargument to this rule is if one drop can categorized the person into black community, what is the value of remaining 99 drops out of 100? Only one drop will determine the race of the person? This seems to be unethical. The second counterargument is How to decide the percentage of African ethnicity and White ethnicity? The race and the discrimination in today’s world is hypothetical and very complex. It is because not a single community on the earth has remained pure. The parameters of determining the person’s race was circumstantial and situational and subjective as well. In every era and in every region the criteria were changed.
As mentioned above the some experts think that race is a biological category while some of them think it as a social category. I personally feel that it is both biological as well as social category. We cannot deny the fact that though anatomy of human being is same in every part of the world, they are different in their complexion, height, features, colour of eyes, colour of hair etc. It means that though the anatomy is same, the outward appearance of humans is different. Of course, it depends upon the Geographical and climatic conditions of the region in which they stay. So the racial discrimination is likely to take shape, but at the same time it should also be considered that, it is just outward appearance that makes one individual distinct from other individual. But it does not mean that the mental, behavioural and psychological differences are based on the colour of the skin, eyes and hair. On intellectual, behavioural and psychological level, the nature has not separated individual from each other. These qualities of individuals are not based on race. On the basis of outward (biological) appearance, the society has made the racial segregation. But it does not mean that one race is always superior and the other race is always inferior. Due to the intermingling of races, the person cannot be called as the member of any particular race.
The social category also leads to stereotype people. This stereotypical approach makes the group very narrow-minded and marginalized. It further culminates into the growing hostility among two or more different group. The stereotype approach is the major hindrance to the healthy growth of any society. It creates hostility, violence, riots among the society members. The minority group especially under poverty is always targeted. In most of the cases, racism is at the root of the violence and riots in America. Along with racism, the economic condition of the class is also responsible to determine the community’s fate in American society. Asian Americans have managed to gain reputation and prestige in American society due to their economic prosperity but the Koreans are still targeted. They are targeted by White as well as Black Americans.
Racial hostility is not just limited to White and Black. Rather it is prevalent in every race. In fact, after studying the racial scenario in America, it can be said that every race is looking towards other race with doubt and suspicion. They have intermingled physically, but psychologically and emotionally they are far away from each other and they have not yet accepted each other from their heart. This is not the indication of a healthy and developing society.
