Dear Robert G. Lee-
I’m very interested in the notion of Asian immigrants as pollutants in America, and I have an idea as to where this notion of difference and discrimination might come from – standardized tests. When I was in elementary and middle school, I frequently took tests on which there would be a section about choosing the word that didn’t belong. I’m sure the testmakers were looking for some sort of heightened reasoning skills and advanced vocabulary, but really, they were just training a bunch of kids to identify pollutants. We were taught to make quick judgments about who belonged and who didn’t based on the superficial associations we had with the words in question. By selecting an option, we were telling that noun that it either had to assimilate or get out, and that we couldn’t let it exist until it changed its ways. Sure, this is might be overthinking the situation a bit, but I feel like so much of the way we interact with Others is based on superficial judgments and ultimatums to either assimilate or leave, and it seems like this must be rooted somewhere deep in our collective American psyche…Maybe standardized tests are to blame for society’s problem with perceived pollutants.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
Holly Fetter
Questions:
1) Though race is socially constructed, how does one escape what s/he looks like? People are mocked and ostracized if they appear to perform a race other than the one that matches their physical appearance… How does someone escape the color of their skin or the shape of their features?
2)Who are the real Americans?
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