The book shifts into a sort of list of ways Liu describes how he is “white” and what it means to be white. He talks about growing up and starts from his early years of trying to fit in by relating his experimenting with hair styles and dating. As he enters college he begins to view himself differently from his other classmates. After attending Yale, He slowly begins to develop a sense of belonging that in his youth could never grasp. The next part deals with Liu’s post-college life working for Bill Clinton. He considers himself an Asian American Activists and begins to pinpoint why he struggled with his identity in his youth.
As his analysis continues he finds that Asian-Americans are over generalized into a falsely assumed mass culture. He then moves his thoughts into his experiences in Chinatown, calling it The Chinatown Idea. He explains that as a Chinese immigrant Chinatown is a culture separate from American culture. The collection begins to change from observations of the Chinese Americans into a finalized, structured attitude. He states that he is not Chinese-American but Chinese American in that exact order. A different, more determined tone is conveyed throughout the rest of the book.
The next topic deals with what he calls the “New Jews”. He believes that Asian Americans compare to Jewish immigrants in many ways. The final section of Eric Luis collection covers his marriage to a white women and how that may affect his own personal assimilation. In Liu’s memoir, he goes into great depth describing his father’s role in his life. His father’s sickness was cleverly masked from the family for so many years. Liu wants to be able to relate to his father’s past. He struggles with the idea that he will never have the same cultural background as his parents had.
The Term Paper on The Impact of Lu Hsun’s Short Stories to Modern Chinese Culture
This paper analyzes four of Lu Hsun’s short stories namely Kung I-Chi, Medicine, Soap, and Diary of a Madman, and examines rising patterns in Hsun’s works that display the philosophies he believed in and those that he opposed. Kung I-Chi is about a man “who studied the classics but never passed the official exam (Kung I-Chi 11),” so he could not get a decent job but to be a copyist. But as he was ...
It worries him that he struggles with the Chinese language and feels as though his culture is fading from generation to generation. His father is described as having an “endless reserve of inner strength” pg 30. The emptiness Liu feels is in part because he thinks he cannot live up to his father. He emphasizes that his “chineseness” lies with his looks and behavior. He questions his own loyalty to his family because he does not truly believe that he is “shaped by ethnicity” but rather, “shaped by situation” pg 30.
Sadly as Liu began envisioning his future with his father and even progressing toward identifying with him, he passes and Liu falls back into questioning and reminiscing about what his father might have thought of him had he still been alive. It even goes on to say that he is a “credit to his own race” pg34.. He thought of himself of a “renaissance boy” because of his multiple talents He does not want to be part of a particular clique but wonders how he might have turned out if he was “more comfortable in his own skin”pg53 ..
He explains that identity is a “social construction” pg. 65. Liu He says that Chinatown “chooses to exempt itself from America”. Liu talks about his mother Po-Po, who when moving to Chinatown had dreams of success and prosperity but over time her motivation faded and she fell right in line with the culture around her. He then compares his visits to China and Chinatown. He concludes that whatever “China displaces, Chinatown embraces” pg. 105. He finishes his Chinatown Idea by retelling of the women who he describes as “remarkable” pg108.
Trinh Duong is the executive director of Chinese Staff and Workers Association. He is impressed by her drive to fight for labor equality. And talks about her run-ins with police and other problems she has had to face. Liu talks about Asian scandal throughout US history and challenges the “loyalty” of the reader. He states that both Jews and Asians climbed to the top very fast. He thinks of Asians and Jews as the model- minority. He goes on to say that as the generations progress in America and Asian Americans begin to assimilate into American culture they turn in the direction downward.
The Essay on Liu Malcolm Asian Hair
Because of the concept of the word race, wars have been started and millions of people have been discriminated against. To me, it appears to be simply another evil in the world that we, as humans, must deal with and potentially overcome. Since the beginning of time, race has done nothing but give people a reason to argue, fight, and discriminate. It gives people reason to not associate with their ...
