Reading Response 8/25

Eric Liu’s “Notes from a Native Speaker” and Sherman Alexie’s “Lawyer’s League” from the book “Ten Little Indians” have a lot in common about race and social acceptance. In “Notes from a Native Speaker” Liu discusses the stereotypes that are “normal” for foreign people. He also explains how society has made it okay to label a person by their ethnicity and how they are supposed to act or talk. The passage talks about how he breaks the stereotypes and can be anyone he wants to be. “Ten Little Indians” is also very similar. Alexie tells this story about a man who also broke many stereotypes and has dreams and goals much larger than how people label him.

 

I definitely agree with these passages. I do not think it is okay how most americans automatically stereotype people because that is what they are comfortable. Many people say how they want equality for all races and genders, but they never actually follow through because that is outside of their comfort zone. I believe that everyone, no matter race, gender, religion, or stereotype, should be able to be anything they want to be.

 

Eric Liu discusses how many people looked at him much differently because he got along with white people and “acted white”.  “Some are born white, others achieve whiteness, still others have whiteness thrust upon them.” When Liu says this he is talking about how people of other ethnicities can be accepted by the white community by acting and talking a certain way.

 

People of different ethnicities are being stereotyped because of their culture and heritage, and this is important if that is who they want to be, but if they want to do or be something else, they should be whoever they want to.