Ronald Takaki’s goal in writing A Different Mirror: a History of Multicultural America was to show that American history may not be as black and white as most people think it is. He wants to inform people that our history has more than one perspective to it. Like when he points out that even though he was born in the U.S‚ yet when people see him they assume he’s not American. He wants us to consider what makes someone an American our appearance or‚ were we can trace our lineage? He is trying to make
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A Different mirror: A History of Multicultural America Ronald Takaki is one of the foremost-recognized scholars of multicultural studies and holds a PhD. in American History from the University of California‚ Berkeley. As a professor of Ethnic Studies at the same university‚ he wrote A Different Mirror: a History of Multicultural America as a fantastic new telling of our nation’s history. The book narrates the composition of the many different people of the United States of America
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Takaki talked about the different minority groups about how they struggled during World War II‚ and how they contributed in winning this war. Jews‚ Japanese‚ Chinese‚ Mexicans‚ and African Americans were mainly discussed about how they were treated in American society during that time of the war‚ and how it integrates with the inequality factors they have faced even though they contributed with patriotism to this land called America. Takaki talks about Hitler‚ and the genocide of Jews throughout
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American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for
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Ronald Takaki examines the struggles Mexicans faced in obtaining equal rights in his book‚ A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. According to Takaki‚ the American people and government affected Mexican lifestyles through encroachment on their rights‚ starting just before the Mexican-American War. Takaki posits that “political restrictions” made it difficult for Mexicans to secure their “rights as citizens” and maintain their “rights as landowners” (167). Takaki explains that
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In chapter 17 of the book‚ A Different Mirror‚ written by Ronald Takaki‚ he discusses what Bill Clinton said in 1997 during his presidency. Clinton says one day we will all be minorities and there will be no majority race in America. He believes this because of all the people who have come from all over to America. In our lecture on April 18th‚ we discussed the previous film we watched‚ Come See the Paradise. We also discussed some of the key terms and went over some if anyone had questions. We then
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Americas as inferior due to their lack of clothing and cleanliness. This initial view of Caliban can also be seen to represent the "De-evolution" or "dehumanization" of natives and of what was seen at the time in the African people‚ as referenced by Takaki in his analyzation of the play where Shakespeare depicted him as a "barbarian" and "savage incapable of nurture (I.ii.37). Using this as not only a description of Caliban’s nature but also as justification for the treatement of not only him but also
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A Different Mirror: Takaki’s use of the Tempest In the first chapter of “A Different Mirror” by Ronald Takaki‚ he explains stereotypes and biases of white‚ Eurocentric attitudes that have been with us since the earliest days of the colonies and settlements here. Beginning with the early colonists and their treatment of the natives‚ there is a pattern of ruthless acquisition of land and goods. According to Takaki‚ the early settlers judged native americans as lacking everything identifiable in
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Different Mirror by Takaki‚ talks about American history of the exploration age with Christopher Columbus as he encountered the native people of Caribbean‚ riots by L.A and the relationship of multiculturalism with the American society. The book has a unique aspect in that Takaki uses his major ethnic character as Caliban and also uses Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Although he uses literature as the background of history‚ it shows in the real what experiences and situations most of the immigrants go
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In Chapter 8 of A Different Mirror Takaki talks about the experience and the reason why The Chinese immigrated to the U.S in the late 1800’s. He also talks about the work and jobs the Chinese people were able to produce. While some did experience the same discrimination and racism as many other immigrant groups during this time such as Eastern Europeans‚ Irish‚ and‚ later‚ Mexicans‚ the United States seemed to welcome the Chinese immigrants and their labor. Takaki talks about a time when the Chinese
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