Alvarez 1

Victoria Alvarez
Professor Sally Olivas
English 101
21 November 2016
Improvement and Looking Forward
In todays society, there are many social issues that everyone either
has to face for themselves, or see in their everyday life amongst others.
Society will always have issues that must be worked on or improved. One
social problem that has been big for decades is issues in ethnicity, people
feeling as though some ethic groups do not belong, their cultural beliefs are
wrong, or even just that being different from them is unacceptable. Most
tend to believe that racism has gotten worse over the years, but in fact it has
improved significantly. Throughout history and these last several decades,
the United States has significantly decreased racial issues. In the short story,
Whos Irish? by Gish Jen, the central issue that the characters face are
ethnicity issues; what the characters may not be aware of is that in the past
the issues that they face at the time of the story were much worse in past
times. Racism has and will always be an issue, but in todays society and
environment it has improved significantly.
In Whos Irish?, Sophies grandmother faces issues with living in the
United States as opposed to China; she has to deal with coming to a new
country, new cultural ideas, and a melting pot of people. Coming from China,
she has a completely different way of life compared to those in America.

Alvarez 2
Having a daughter married to someone who is not of the Chinese culture is
not something she is used to either or knows how to react to; being that his
family is nothing like hers and they have their different beliefs and cultural
ways there is bound to be conflict. Having such diverse backgrounds and
ways of life Natalie, the daughter, and her Irish husband John, begin to see
that they do not want their daughter raised the same way that she was
raised in China. While the grandmother spends a lot of time helping raise
Sophie, she tries to parent her the same way they would in China. This
causes conflict within the family, because each side believes their cultural
ways of raising a child is the correct way. Throughout the story they refer to
the Chinese and the Irish as, the Chinese this, Chinese that or Irish this,
Irish that (Jen 105). This shows that they both speak down to each other by
making derogatory comments like that. Not only in this short story do things
of that nature happen, but in real life every single day. Different groups in
society believe that any other way than theirs is wrong or should not be
followed. This is where racism comes into play; the different groups in
society sometimes are not always accepting of others beliefs or cultural
ways. Just as the families in the story felt, people in todays society feel the
exact same way: oppressed, not accepted, and looked down upon.
Racism is everywhere; not only here in our country, but everywhere in
the world. Every single day people have to face it, whether it be for
themselves or for someone that they may know. As stated before, racism has
been going on for decades, even centuries. Today the issues are more based

Alvarez 3
off of accepting all cultures, whereas in the past, some cultures were not
even allowed into the United States. What the characters from Whos Irish?
may not realize is that, from an article called the, Chinese Exclusion Act, it
stated that the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, essentially banned all
Chinese immigration to the United States (Bodenner 1). This shows that
racism has always been around. The entire country as a whole did not allow
the Chinese to immigrate in, when in reality, our entire country was founded
by immigrants. This is key, in that racism is a very real and serious issue.
Once other foreigners of any other race, other than white, began coming into
the country, they suddenly they were not welcomed. Now, over a century
later, our country is open to any ethnicity, race, and color. It almost seems
crazy that this country banned a certain group of people from coming in, just
because of their cultural background or the way that they looked. That is one
aspect that is no longer seen at all. The entire country is a melting pot of
people: different skin colors, cultural factors, ancestry, and language, in
which all are accepted.
What most of the society does not seem to realize is that, the country
has gained so much rein on how the people react to racism. Not too long
ago, there was no rein whatsoever; day in and day out, several civilians
stood up against racism to protect their own rights as people. Just in the mid
1900s, African Americans were not allowed to even sit in the front of the
bus, because they were said to not be worthy to. This then started the entire
Civil Rights Movement and eventually the Voting Rights Act. In the article,

Alvarez 4
An Unfinished Dream, it states that Martin Luther King once said, Each of
us must keep faith in the future Move on with dignity and honor and
respectability Keep moving amid every obstacle (Garrow 1). This shows
that in previous time all they could hope for was that maybe, just maybe
someday a change would happen and they would be accepted just for the
color of their skin. The entire nation was struggling to be the one whole unit
it was sought out to be; blacks and whites were segregated just because of
the color of their skin. Imagine having segregated schools, stores, or public
transportation; even the thought of having anything of that sort today would
be absolutely intolerable. Back then that was a real, everyday concern that
African Americans truly had and feared. It seems almost unrealistic that
these were actual problems and fears in someones everyday life because at
this point in time the country does not have to worry about segregation of
any kind.
There is no doubt that racism is still around and a very real issue, but
over the years there have been several movements, acts, and rules to
control it. Although it is still an issue, it is not worse today than it used to be.
In the mid 1900s Martin Luther King was the face for a campaign against
racism; he was successful in his fight against it and eventually received
credit for being the one to essentially end segregation. In todays society,
segregation is the least of anyones worries, the idea of that may even seem
foreign. Although racism is no longer a peak problem, that does not exclude
individual people from being racist themselves. Stories of children in schools

Alvarez 5
feeling bullied, taunted, or mistreated because they look different than most
others are still common. From the article, Reducing the Impact of Racism on
Students, states that Teachers should point out the behavior, label it racist,
indicate they will not tolerate it, and explain why (Pollard 74). This directly
shows that racism still is existent and not only students, but every day
civilians still feel the impact of it, but there are several ways to handle it. By
pointing out that racist remarks are, in fact, intolerable this reduces how and
if people will continue to say those things. Especially in a school dynamic,
most children do not want to continue getting scolded or reprimanded,
therefore ceasing them to say racist remarks. This directly shows that in
schools, racism of any sort and against anyone will not be tolerated
decreasing it greatly, whereas when schools were still segregated it allowed
students to feel comfortable in saying racist comments. Racism is in fact,
decreasing significantly due to small, powerful changes such as this one.
There are still people who are set in their ways and truly believe racism
is a pressing matter, so one could argue that it is not a thing of the past. In
an article titled, Activists Claim That Police Brutality is Alive and Well in
America states that, Police brutality is out of control, there should be a
reality show, Cops Gone Wild (Shabazz 3). The article continues to mention
that African Americans should not have to fear just getting behind the wheel
of a car. Being that most police brutality acts are only against African
Americans. The article also states that, We believe that after looking at the
statistics, 90 percent of those stopped were doing nothing wrong. Having a

Alvarez 6
fear of just getting behind the wheel of a car because of ones appearance,
skin color, or ethnicity is not something this country prides itself on. They
should not have to fear for their life for simply doing an everyday normal
activity driving a car. This is just one example of how racism is still a
negative form in existence. From another article titled, Even Children Fear
Trump, it states that a young boy who is biracial with a white mother and
black father asked his mother, If Donald Trump is elected president will
Daddy and I become slaves? (Tatum 33). This clearly displays that even
young children are completely aware of racism. Even worse, the racism he
noticed is coming from the new President Elect; this is indicative in that our
country could potentially be supporting what is coming off as racism, from
the future President. These are two examples that racism is still around and a
very real fear that some have.
Although racism is still an issue here in the United States, it is nowhere
near comparable than to what it used to be in the mid 1900s. As stated
before, certain civilians believe nothing is wrong with racism, and that it is
okay. As for the police brutalities, certain people still are racist, that there is
an issue, but others are simply doing their job as an officer. As for the
countrys new President Elect, Trump, several comments have in fact been
racist, but the country as a whole will stand up against any forms of racism
that could potentially come up. The country has been known to stand up for
their civil rights and history has proven just that; protestors have already
been in the streets since November 8, so it is certain that if any moves of

Alvarez 7
racism are even slightly suspected, the nation will not stand for it. There are
still big issues that do need fixing, but our country as a whole has never been
more put together than it is right now. Areas are not segregated, and schools
are not separated. In the past, there was not a single chance that people of
different color or race could be seen with one another, or that one was higher
ranked than the other. Things of that nature would not ever be seen in
todays society, being that all races and colors are now accepted anywhere.
Racism has decreased significantly over the years. The United States
itself is known to be a melting pot of people, because that is exactly what
this country prides itself on being the only country made up of just
immigrants. It is that this country stands for more than just one kind of
person, but that it stands for everyone of any origin, racial background,
religion, and skin color. That alone, displays that everyone should not hold
racism over anyone else due to the fact this country is not based off of just
one race. Equality in everyones race is very well known in this country and
considered in every situation. Although racism is not over and it never will
be, as a country, there have been so many opportunities that have opened
up for all races and given many a chance to do what they want to in this
country. Racism may never come to an end, but there are always chances for
it to be better than it is today. Those may be things to work on, but as for
now, racism is not the main topic of worry. There have been many great
advances for all races to succeed equally today. Racism has not progressively

Alvarez 8
gotten worse over time, but what it has done is progressively improved, in
that it is not the main concern anymore.

Alvarez 9
Jen, Gish. Who's Irish? (n.d.): n. pag. Professolivas.weebly. Gish Jen. Web. 4
Nov. 2016.
Bodenner, Chris. Chinese Exclusion Act. Issues & Controversies in
American History.
Infobase Learning, 20 Oct. 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
<http://icah.infobaselearning.com.citruscollege.idm.oclc.org/issue.aspx
?ID=107565>.
Garrow, David J. "An Unfinished Dream." EBSCOhost. David J Garrow, 27 Jan.
2009. Web. 4 Nov.
2016.
Pollard, Diane S. "Reducing the Impact of Racism On Students." EBSCOhost.
Diane S Pollard, 24
Oct. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.
Shabazz, Saeed. "Activists Claim That Police Brutality Is Alive and Well in
America." EBSCOhost.
Saeed Shabazz, 22 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.
Tatum, Elinor. "Even Children Fear Trump." EBSCOhost. Elinor Tatum, 12 May
2016. Web. 4
Nov. 2016.