Tag: America

Six Closed Doors

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America is the greatest country on earth. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. But the very thing the States are praised for contain the secrets we hide behind closed doors.


America: the land of possibilities. You are able to be anything or anybody you want to be. Which is what everyone wants, right? No labels, no expectations. We celebrate holidays that encourage dressing up and changing everything about yourself, from your hair, to your height, to becoming some fruit. But what if I told you that it wasn’t all it cracked up to be? What if I said we would all be better off if we were just ourselves? Because behind closed doors, the masks are only used as an escape route. Instead of expressing our individuality, we are only conforming to fit in. You see, behind closed doors, the only reason we idolize being able to be anything, is because we are told to just be ourselves isn’t good enough.


America: the Melting Pot. We were founded on immigration. People flocked from all over the world to be a part of this great nation. We “welcome” everyone with open arms. We all blend together in a perfect harmony that makes the best fondue you’ve ever tasted. Or is it? Because behind closed doors, racism is still alive. In America a white girl can date a black guy and people will cheer from the sidelines screaming “hip, hip, hooray for equality.” But behind closed doors, that white girl’s dad is saying she isn’t allowed to be with him while his mom is telling him you can’t trust a white girl.

America: Home of the American Dream. My dad was born in Ithaca, New York. He grew up on a lake with next to no money. His parents got divorced when he was 15 and his father invested every cent that had to a fool-proof business plan. It failed. My dad then went to college, became a successful business man, paid back his student loans, and now my sister and I and our kids will all be set for life. Admirable, right? Not so fast. Because behind closed doors, citizens have lost faith in being successful in America. Behind the door, they see a white man and assume he’s always had it easy. People worry about the disappearance of the Dream, but it is very much alive, but what they don’t want you to know, what’s going on behind closed doors, is it’s not the dream that is dead, but the people who should be dreaming it.


America: the Land of Rewards. We encourage all of our people, but especially our kids and praise them for a job well done. A pat on the back is no longer good enough, we must shower children with affection, approval, recognition, and gifts so they know just how good they are. But picking our kids up, is actually tearing the country down. Because behind closed doors, there is so little to celebrate in our corrupt, sub par school systems, we actually reward kids for just showing up. Behind closed doors, our kids have become more narcissistic from unnecessary praise and more likely to only look out for themselves and thus less and less leaders are being raised.


America: a Place Where No One is Alone. Every man has a best friend and every best friend has a man. We all rescue each other. None of God’s creations go unnoticed. But actually they do. My mom and I rescued Twix and she is one of the best things that ever happened to me. But it isn’t as humane as it sounds. Because behind closed doors, I needed to be rescued too. We can all see when a furry friend is in need our help, but as for our own kind? No one cares enough to see the depression and struggles our own people are facing. Instead, their scars go unnoticed and we simply hide them behind the closed doors.


America: the Land of Expression. Art can found anywhere and everywhere. People are constantly expressing theirselves and no one stops them. But ever think why graffiti is only done at night? Because behind closed doors, no one wants you to express your own opinion that differs from the masses. Behind closed doors, you don’t want anyone to know you have feelings and emotions that may not line up perfectly with everyone else’s. So we wait until the night and anonymously tag the spots that mean the most with pictures that say 1,000 words because in the daylight, it would just be too risky.

Kernel – Lawyer’s League and Notes of a Native Speaker

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In “Lawyer’s League” by Sherman Alexie and “Notes of a Native Speaker” by Eric Liu, both authors bring to the table their opinions on being a different race and ethnicity in modern America.  Alexie is an African American/Indian trying to make a name for himself in the world of politics. Liu is an Asian American tackling the challenge of being a “banana” head on. Although these men are of different skin tones and heritage and have a different way of coping with the pressures of living in the United States while their ancestors were born elsewhere, I think they could both agree that sometimes, for those without “white privilege”, the American Dream isn’t all that it cracked up to be.

Sherman Alexie introduces his character as a “graceful monster.” He was the product of a football player and a ballerina which led to a “biracial revolutionary leftist magician with a twenty-foot jumper encoded in [his] DNA.” Alexie describes a character that strives to be the first politician who is truly trusted by the Indian tribes, but it is clear in this story the insecurities that exist being a mixed man in white America. In story format, the author takes us through a series of events letting us into the thoughts of the politician such as his inability to ever be with a white woman even if he loved her because of what people might think. It becomes apparent after the character punches a racist man in the nose during a basketball game that Alexie’s character still hasn’t fully figured out how to an Indian man in a white society. Unlike in Liu’s text, Sherman writes of a man that is aggressive, forceful, and, in my opinion, less effective in his tactics to get other people to see his worth despite his darkened skin tone.

“Notes of a Native Speaker” began as a list and then transitioned into Liu’s characters specific thoughts instead of fast forwarding through time while telling a story. The Asian American man in the text discusses what the process of assimilating into a white man is like. The character reveals that at first this “whitening” development was almost his guilty pleasure as he felt himself lose touch with his long life of Chinese heritage. However, in a confident tone he discloses that he no longer feels ashamed and he is proud of where is in life and pleased with the white family he just recently married into. In contrary to “Lawyer’s League”, Liu creates a character who is conformable enough in his own skin to allow whites to call him an “honorary white” and Asians to call him a “banana” and simply say that he has “moved away from the periphery and toward the center of American life.”

Both works of literature share with the reader the ins and outs of being a man of color in America’s white society. One text shows a point of view where the man is angry about racism and takes a hawkish approach against the white man who belittles him. The second text depicts a colored man embracing the opportunities the United States has for him. Both themes can relate back to one common parable: life gets hard, but it’s what you do with it that matters.