Racism, Immigration, and Coming of Age, Essay Example

Within the article, the author juxtaposes racism, immigration, and coming of age in a story that represents the struggle of leaving the shadows of your parents.  He questions what it means to be a member of society.  It isn’t always a case of observing the same customs and having the same rituals and sayings as everyone else.The author’s idea of assimilation is not wholly about ‘whiteness’ but now about appearing ‘mainstream’ or part of the ‘system’ seems to be attributed to ‘whiteness’.  In this way, simply aspiring to ‘fit in’ has come to be associated with ‘whiteness’.  At a certain point race and culture merge together, and custom becomes about fitting into a stereotype.

The author goes beyond race and class though.  When they stand with their friends they seem to be at a new frontier of society.  The author references ‘mobility’ it becomes about a person’s potential rather than their race.  The author wanted to be around people who were going places, and at the time these people seemed to be mostly white.This paper doesn’t seem to be so much about racism, but more about a person’s ability to fit in with the society that they find themselves in.  This seems to be making the claim that actions determine race, at least in some way.  Liu’s idea of America almost seems to be one where those who aspire are themselves a culture.  This idea is the basis for his definition of assimilation. “For while it may be possible to transcend race, it is not always necessary to try.”  I agree with the author’s overall position on their struggle through life.  Liu states at the end of the paper that he doesn’t necessarily think he chose the best or the worst path through life.  The important thing is that he tried.  This, to me, is a wise position to be coming from.