Tricia Hawkins

English 1050

7/5/2017

Essay One

Othering

PART ONE -

As we analyze our personal choices and actions, and carry that process over to our

observations of the world around us, each person sees the effects of othering and how these

thoughts, beliefs and actions effect communities and beliefs throughout time. Each person

tends to generalize another, to lump each other into a group that we have predetermined for

each person or group of people each experience, even down to the places that we visit.

Margaret Mead references this phenomenon in her works, We are All Third Generation. Our

ability, as humans, to base our affiliation with each other is based off a snap judgement that is

often associated with othering in the introduction of our textbook we see how that can affect

our relationships with other people regardless of our ethnic/cultural backgrounds.

Unfortunately, because we can make a judgement based on appearance, actions, or beliefs. The

point of this essay is to point out differences that each person has and how that is completely

for the best of each person in the community. I believe that we can all benefit from being a bit

more understanding and accepting, and my intention is to help your understanding of the

effects in the past and how we can take those experiences and improve them for the future. Our

willingness to change and improve our situations, regarding persecution, terrorism, hate and

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death truly comes down to you and me we can make a change that will always effect someone

else.

My truth, my belief, my understanding, and my action will always be something that may

seem absurd to someone else. This does not make me wrong, and this does not make you right.

The principle that should be learned here is that we can all bring something to the table, no

matter how ridiculous or helpful (or unhelpful) it may seem to someone at any point in time.

Maragaret Mead touches on this point in her work, And Keep Your Powder Dry: We Are All

Third Generation. She describes how Americans seem to carry this attitude that to some may

seem pompous and unappreciative. She describes that the Great Westerners constantly are

trying to make a connection, some point that will guide you and I back to the same roots ...by

finding common points on the road that all are expected to have traveled, after their forebears

came from Europe one or two or three generation ago, or from one place to anotherwhether

they meet on the deck of an Atlantic steamer, in a hotel in Singapore, in New York or in san

Francisco, the same expectation underlies their first contact that both of them have moved on

and are moving on Mead goes on to describe that we have a deep rooted desire to find that

connection, especially with someone we may not be able to see any apparent link with on the

surface. But, I say, whats wrong with that? I know, I know, some might find it really annoying

that Americans feel that we must find a connection with some man or woman that we dont

know from Adam, but at least we are trying. I dont believe in all the actions and values that

other Americans seem to hold dear, and vice versa, but I believe that is how we learn and grow

a deeper relationship with those around us; by connecting, in any way that we can, we are

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showing our acceptance and desire to learn more. I dont believe that needs to just be an

American thing, but a human thing.

As humans have passed through time we see the effects of othering; psychologically

we build lasting relationships based on our snap judgements and our ability to relate to one

another on a more personal level regarding our mutual interests and ideas. This form of

othering has made it so people become more relatable. Unfortunately, oftentimes this

process of distinguishing the differences between one another can become a fatal flaw in our

treatments of those people. The introduction of our book, Reading Culture illustrates the

point that some might distinguish a difference between fine art and pop culture just like

others might distinguish the differences in beliefs and culture. In making this distinction

between high and low art, this view of culture is largely interested in the classics in holding what

might be considered serious art separate from popular culture. Just as we differentiate our

different opinions it is imperative to understand that they are just that, opinion. We cannot base

our own personal beliefs of a minority group, especially, based on past mistake and/or

trespasses of others before them.

This means that we have and continue to persecute individuals that arguably do not

deserve any such treatment. Othering can be a positive thing, and I feel I have listed those

positive opinions up until this point. But, the more important fact that should be brought to

light is the fact that othering seems an unending struggle, one that has ripped countries,

cultures and families apart. The poems from Angel Island show us the devastation that comes

from othering full cultures and regions of people. The New Yorker a particularly enlightening

poem written by a Denis Kearney. Kearney felt that he and his crew of railway workers were

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particularly persecuted because the mass movement of Chinese workers that they felt were

taking jobs away from their deserving American men:

They think of those people

who take away their jobs,

who speak a language

they cannot understand,

who live in tenements

and send their money home,

who eat dogs and rats

and spend their nights alone

in a haze of sweet smoke,

and they think of his words,

And no matter what happens,

the Chinese must go!

Understanding the necessities on both sides, I can see the pain that each man and woman

would have had to go through. That being said, I believe we can all learn from the arguably

disappointing behavior of the American workers. Our actions, as much as many would argue

this point, truly affect the way that our future generations - and lets be honest the current

generation act, and react to the fundamental differences in human involvement. It is truly our

job to make this life, and this world one that can be a more accepting and overall tolerant

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population to better understand that it is our differences that make any machine work for the

better; and as a well-oiled and effective machine, we can become an everlasting and very real

goal for the future.

PART TWO -

Gloria Azalda shared a particularly moving and distinguished piece of work. She

witnessed the persecution that is all too often associated with another culture in the United

States, If you want to be an American, speak American. I thought her language and word

choice, especially from English to Spanish helped her readers understand the other side of the

cultural divide. The addition of the languages really hit home the Ethos rhetorical stance. She

demonstrated the credibility and lifetime of experience that came with living in a multi-cultural

divide. I think that even the separation of the different cultural dialects within the Spanish

language, that Azalda uses demonstrate an even different separation that makes each person

fundamentally different even down to the place they were born/raised; to me, this in turn

proposed the thought we can all be different, and there shouldnt be a problem with that.

Azalda uses her examples from school, friends and time with her family to demonstrate

the different levels of opinion and pressure that were placed on her. While reading this, I dont

really believe that it was geared for any of her to necessarily feel bad or pity Gloria, but to

understand that the world that any immigrant lives is one that might always feel akin to walking

on eggshells. Which, unfortunately for them, a lot of people will never understand. Azalda

paints a very vivid picture of her experience to provide the insight that many are sorely lacking. I

lived abroad for a long time, in the Dominican Republic, and while reading this, I felt that I truly

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came to understand a small part of what the people that werent born into a middle class,

arguably cushy life. I feel that I gained more compassion for the lives of those that fight so

hard to come to this country and gain the privileges that are freely given to those born in

America. The least we can do is respect that desire and encourage the pathways and resources

to continue towards that goal. I hope that you have seen a way to better your outlook and

understanding of the way that you treat and interact with others. The behavior that you

demonstrate is something that can always have an impact, and as we live this life I believe that

it is important to truly reflect on opportunities that we have had to impact the lives of others.

As Muhatma Ghandi so eloquently stated, You must be the change you want to see in the

world.

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 Works Cited

Mead, Margaret. And keep your powder dry: an anthropologist looks at America. New York: W.

Morrow, 1942. Print.

George, Diana, and John Trimbur. Reading culture contexts for critical reading and writing.

Boston, Mass.: Pearson, 2012. Print.

Ahmed, Beenish. "The Lost Poetry of the Angel Island Detention Center | The ..." The New

Yorker. N.p., 22 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 July 2017.

Anzaldua, Gloria. How to Tame a Wild Tongue? Borderland/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza.

Second Edition. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1987. 217. Print.