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Catfish and Mandala II
Racism
Racism and racial relations are something unavoidable for a person coming and living in the United States; whether one is an immigrant or a temporary visitor. In Catfish and Mandala, Andrew X Pham says: "Since the day Chi ran away, I have wondered how utterly alone she felt. I have wanted to run away the way she did. In the years it took me to become an American, I haven't been able to answer the one question that remained framed in my mind from the day she left: How did America treat Chi, one vulnerable yellow in a sea of white faces?" (Pham, Catfish and Mandala, p. 33). In this passage, Pham explains what it is to live in America as an Asian immigrant. Pham suggests here that one of the reasons his sister escaped was the racism of her social environment, in addition to problems she had with her family. Pham is also explains the fundamentals of racial politics in America when it comes to the lives and experiences...
The relations between Asians Americans and European-Americans are shaped by the notion that the former are "yellow" and that the latter are "white." In the rest of the book, Pham explains how this fundamental color distinction always affects his life in America. His employer calls him an "oriental" who is supposed to work hard, be obedient, and excel (p. 25). While traveling across America, he encounters people who show him their middle-fingers, suggesting that he should "go home." Pham tried hard to become a full-fledged American, but he could not fully succeed because of the question of racism returned again and again. Despite his struggles, he remained in America "a Jap, a Chin, a gook" (p. 244). He could not escape from that.
Racism in America may have waned since the days of Pham's arrival to the United States but racial stereotyping is still pretty much the norm. This is something I have been experiencing during the…
References
Pham, A.,X. (1999) Catfish and mandala: a two-wheeled voyage across the landscape and memory of Vietnam. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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