On Being In America

On Being In America

Who belongs in America is certainly a topic of discourse (some
pretty heated) for those of us who are in the (soon to be minoritized)
white majority. There are those of us who believe that we need to
stop breaking the promise represented by the statue of liberty. There
are others who feel either that we are superior or equal but in need
of separate spaces to not dilute the old gene pool. I suspect that
most of us fall somewhere in between. But what is it like to be new
in this country, to cope with the competing demands of two or more
cultures, or to wonder exactly who you are in this light? Fortunately
I was able to find two books in Fogler (UMaine) library.

America Ferrera (If, unlike me, you watch tv, you've probably
heard of her) wrote American Like Me: Reflections On Life Between
Cultures because, as an American actress of Honduran descent called on
to play stereotyped Latino roles and wanting to play more authentic
characters, she understood the power of inclusive narrative to make
people feel seen and accepted. She writes of a childhood of being put
into categories by the people around her.
"I may have been a whitewashed gringa in Latino groups, but I
was downright exotic to my white friends; especially to their parents,
who were always treating me like a rare and precious zoo animal.
They'd ooh and aah at my mother's courageous immigrant story, then
wish out loud that my hardworking spirit would rub off on their
children..."
In addition to her story, the book contains those of thirty-one
other famous people who also grew up American and indiginous,
immigrant or of immigrant descent. Some of the others you'll hear
from are:
*Actor and Activist Bambadjan Bamba, originally from West Africa, who
moved to a very unwelcoming New York at the age of ten. To escape
bullying he became as Americanized as possible. Year later he was
struck by an epiphany:
"...It is said 'When you submit your will to other people's
opinion, a part of you dies.' Well, I was dying inside because I was
a people pleaser. I spent most of my time trying to be something I
wasn't just so I could survive and got in with my peers..."
and *Actress Liz Koshy, the biracial, raised-in-Texas daughter of a
father who immigrated from India and a mother born in Virginia. Her
suburban neighborhood was very mixed and her parents easy going with
people from a wide range of cultures:
"Thank God I'm a mixed kid from a Texas-salad-bowl world. I
wouldn't have it any other way. I never had to be ashamed of my
Indianness. Or my whiteness. No one called me out for speaking
Spanish or twerking poorly. I was welcomed with open arms to drink
from the fountain of liquid milk chocolate--and got to grow up just
being me."
That is the book I think all of us should read.

The Good Immigrant, edited by Mikesh Shukla and Chimene
Suleyman, takes the concept to a whole new level. It's more scholarly
and existential. Also, these are mostly the experiences and worlds of
adults rather than children with layers and layers of meaning. Some
of the pieces you'll encounter involve:
*Krutika Mallinkarjuna reconciling her devoutly religious Indian
mother to her bisexuality,
*Wale Oyejide performing a role, stay home father, that would have
been anethema to his African ancestors,
*Jim St. Germaine revealing that his greatest source of joy, his son,
Caleb, is also the source of his greatest fear. "...my beautiful boy
isn't protected anywhere in this country...And I can't perform my
number one job as a father: to keep him safe. Being his father is
the equivalent of living with my heart outside my body in a war zone."
I recommend this fine book to those who can understand and
appreciate it.

On a personal note, despite the homework, my vaca continues to be
AMAZING. I was on campus yesterday and saw some friends who were
saying how they aren't doing anything nearly as exciting. Next week
so many people will want to hear about what I did. I admit that I
enjoy being the center of attention. I'm getting so much cuddle time
with the best little cat in the world. I got the script for next
Wednesday. I'll be acting instead of working. And then I found out
the drag show which I'll be performing in will be in the Collins
Center for Performing Arts which is simply the BIGGEST DEAL VENUE ON
THE WHOLE UMAINE CAMPUS! This is beyond my wildest dreams only REAL!!!
A great big shout out goes out to all of us who are going to burn up
that stage the night of the drag show.
jules hathaway



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