Takaki's personal experiences inspired him to devote his life to working for equality for Asian Americans and others.
The Master Narrative is the familiar story that America was settled by European immigrants, and that Americans are white or European in ancestry.
“Ronald Takaki begins A Different Mirror with the assertion that “[r]ace…has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups” (10). He goes on to argue that this construction does not accurately reflect the “rich and complex mosaic” of American diversity.
This basic difference arises out of Takaki's view of ethnicity in America as being segregationist and exclusionist while Na than Glazer's view of ethnicity in America is assimilationist and inclusive.
The master narrative reinforces the idea that there were no such contributions; • By defining who is American too narrowly, it leaves people feeling left out of history and out of America itself (it's alienating);
Takaki challenges the Master Narrative as an incorrect teaching because it does not reflect America's full history. America has always been racially and ethnically diverse.
In A Different Mirror, Takaki argues that racist and religious stereotyping was a tool used by white people to distinguish themselves from those they deemed “Other.” Indeed, he shows that white identity was itself constructed as a foil, or opposite, to these stereotypes.
Takaki aims to study “race and ethnicity inclusively and comparatively,” examining many different groups side by side.
Ronald TakakiA Different Mirror / Author
1993A Different Mirror / Originally publishedAbout A Different Mirror for Young People When the first edition of A Different Mirror was published in 1993, Publishers Weekly called it “a brilliant revisionist history of America that is likely to become a classic of multicultural studies” and named it one of the ten best books of the year.
The expectations of the Chinese are not met as they are sold into slavery in the United States. They think that their movement to America will pay off. Despite isolated incidences occurring to them, these incidences are brutal, and many Asians suffer.
The Chinese migrated to America due to the opium wars and other problems at home.
A cartoon in one of the magazines in California describes the Chinese “as a bloodsucking vampire with slanted eyes, a pigtail, dark skin, and thick lips… they were described as heathen, morally inferior, savage, childlike, and lustful” (Takaki 205).
Initially, 24,000 Chinese are miners in the 1840s but are driven out of mining by the determined “whites.”. There is discrimination in the job market. Although the “whites” and the Chinese do more or less the same work, they are paid less money compared to the “whites.”.
The issues discussed include the reasons for the movement of the Chinese to America, the expectations of the Chinese; jobs, discrimination, contributions to America, power, economics, gender issues, bachelor societies, etc. and the common experiences the Chinese had with other people of color.
Asian Americans have been given the label of "model minority" because of their seemingly superior intelligence and work ethic. They are viewed as being more productive and achieving higher job status than other minorities.
Asian Americans have been given the label of "model minority" because of their seemingly superior intelligence and work ethic. They are viewed as being more productive and achieving higher job status than other minorities.
Ronald Takaki discusses Asian American success in “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority,” first appearing in the New York Times on June 16, 1990 and has since then been reprinted several times.
Ronald Takaki discusses Asian American success in “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority,” first appearing in the New York Times on June 16, 1990 and has since then been reprinted several times.
The thesis of Takaki’s essay is the perception of “success” and a paragon of a “model society” which is not in conformity with the statistics that actually portray Asian Americans.
The thesis of Takaki’s essay is the perception of “success” and a paragon of a “model society” which is not in conformity with the statistics that actually portray Asian Americans.
Ronald Takaki concludes in chapter three, “The ‘Giddy Multitude’: The Hidden Origins of Slavery,” that planters did not carefully think about the consequences of relying exclusively of Africans as a source of slave labor. He states that this action has caused significant problems for black people as well as American society.
Ronald Takaki concludes in chapter three, “The ‘Giddy Multitude’: The Hidden Origins of Slavery,” that planters did not carefully think about the consequences of relying exclusively of Africans as a source of slave labor. He states that this action has caused significant problems for black people as well as American society.