Something that I found very interesting was the last sentence of the poem.
They could paint
The martyrdom of living with a face
Whose only label was the human race.
When the speaker relates her ambiguity, as it relates to her race, to martyrdom it made the poem so much more powerful to me. I could tell how much this affected her. She was unable to convince anyone of where she was from and what race she was, and it was killing her inside. Personally, I can identify with this poem. I love that I am Dominican and German, but I often times get questioned about my ethnicity. Many times people do not believe that I am a Latina, mainly because I am so light skinned. I feel as though the situation is similar between me and the speaker.
In the speaker's third stanza, she describes fleeing through every boulevard and bar. While she is fleeing she is denying all the "dim, exotic lands" the people are accusing her of being from. She then packs up and runs away. How do you think this affects her, and others like her? Are you one of these people?
I think the question of heritage is different for different people. Everyone feels differently about their history. I, for one, take pride in my history and where my family has come from. For this speaker I believe it could go either way. Perhaps she is not proud of her background, so she avoids all questions and runs away from it. On the other hand she might just be sick and tired of people making false assumptions about her ethnicity. Either way she has a strong since of belief in the fact that where you are from does not entirely make up who you are. I like the last stanza of this poem where she says, “They could paint the martyrdom of living with a face whose only label was the human race.” It really hits home the fact that we may all come from different places, but we are still all human, and we must live together.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Some of my friends are ABCs (America born Chinese). They are born in America, growing up in America. They eat American food, listening to American music. In America, however, people say they are Chinese, while in China people think they are “bananas”—yellow skin with white heart. Kristin Lattany has the same problem about her ethnicity and reflected her feelings and puzzle through her poems. From her words, I can tell how serious the ethnical question is.
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ReplyDeleteLast year, I read James McBride’s memoir, "The Color of Water" for my Advanced Composition class. With the perpetual mockery from his white peers and the absolute disgust from strangers, the author, who is of both black and white descent, often struggles with racial identity during his childhood and early adulthood. Because everyone is not simply from one ethnic group or another, physical attributes of an individual, such as hair texture and complexion, can make someone question that individual’s ethnicity. Due to this cultural mélange, there is no typical appearance of someone from a particular ethnic background, contrary to popular belief. I find it incredibly ironic that an attribute (ethnicity) that consists of less than one percent of all human beings entire makeup is of such importance to others. Although I do believe that an individual should look beyond race as a means to discriminate and degrade, I feel that one should also have a sense of appreciation and awareness of one’s entire ethnic background. As someone who belongs to a family from a variety of ethnicities and different physical characteristics, I feel that everyone, not just those whose ethnicity or nationality is questioned like Lattany, should have a sense of pride about his or her background and not be angered or frightened by those who question it. As opposed to seeing the question as an insult, I believe that an individual should see it as an opportunity to educate those who ask about it. Because the world is so diverse in a number of ways including culturally, for a person to overlook one’s own ethnicity would be fairly ignorant and naïve. However, I still think that what ultimately matters is the moral fiber and good deeds of an individual, not the color of his or her skin. Ultimately, as a little girl in "The Color of Water" stated when asked what kind of bean she was exclaimed, "We’re all human beans!"
ReplyDeleteI think that often times people do look too much into where a person is from. What difference does it make if you are from Japan, Ecuador, Italy, or where ever, we are all living together in the world and so why muct we be labeled. I believe the author of this poem was truly trying to tell us this and that is why she felt so frustrated. She did not understand why they did not believe her when she told them where she was from and did not understand why it was important. I know that when people do not believe you when youtell them where you are from, it makes you feel aggravated and like you want to just scream and prove it to them, but in the same way, you want them to just believe you. I understand how frustrating it can be because people also question me when I tell them I am Latina because I am so light-skinned and don't have an accent. I just don't understand what difference it makes.
ReplyDeleteI think being proud of your heritage and ethnicity is very important, however very difficult. As mentioned above, people often question ones race, and sometimes dont believe the answer they hear. This adds aggrivation, and sometimes despair. If someone engquires about ones background, but does not bleive the response, why ask in the first place? Just because one may not look latina, or european, does not mean they lying. It is just the way society is today. If you dont look or sound the part, one loses faith in your validity. People today base everything on looks, and numerous people judge based on these looks, so perhaps the author is trying to flee from bias judgments, or the annoying, repetitive questions of one's background.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the speaker wants to be recognized for who she is and not given false identities because of the color of her skin. I think that the speaker only wants to be who she really is and the many different identities that she's given only solidify the accusation that cultures can have the same complexion of skin and have completely different backgrounds and beliefs. The fact that the people accused her of being an array of cultures might mean that they themselves are ignorant to the many cultures in the world and what they look like, or that they didn't care who and what culture she was, but that they just knew she was different.
ReplyDeleteI have never been mistaken for being someone that I am not but I can imagine that it is both frustrating and upsetting to not be able to express who you are as an individual without being questioned by society, which is probably how the speaker felt throughout the poem.
Identity seems to always be a sensitive subject for people. I can relate to this poem a lot because I have always had similar, if not the same, experiences as the author of the poem. I think that when the author runs away, it is a sign that she is fed up and frustrated with the struggles that she endures because of her ethnicity. I can totally understand. Having to explain who you are to people is very frustrating at times, especially when no one believes you. Someone's identity is something that they are supposed to be able to be proud of; however, being denied the right to express your ethnicity because no one believes you, is very difficult, and would probably cause anyone to want to run away.
ReplyDeleteALthough I am not mixed, I do understand how people in today's society especially in America are so quick to label others who look different. I know that can be challenging for that individual to go through. There are alot of self-esteem issues that go on in that individual's life. It is not fair for people wtih different ethnicities to have to explain themselves to society when they do not have to. however, this in turn makes that person that much stronger and that much better as an individual because they are proud and really know where they stand in society, whether white, black, latina, asian or whatever.
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