Identity (prompt 16, Ch 4.3-5.2 p130-153)

16. How IR relates to issues discussed in class.
In 4.3-5.1 Rodriguez learns that it isn't bad that he has dark skin. Always as a child he was told to stay out of the sun, because it was important to stay light. As he was going into college things began to change. Because of different movements against racism, he was now a "minority" student. There were good things about this. Now people wanted him to do things. They would give him scholarships and opportunities so that they could have a percentage of minority students in their programs.

This relates to the "Invisible Man" unit that we were doing because in this section he struggles a lot with racism and identity. Because his race was a minority, he did not want to be himself. Rodriguez felt uncomfortable in his body and wanted a new one. He didn't feel like he has an identity and tried hard to be like the others so that he could be excepted. His friends do except him, but he still feels uncomfortable because he is different. Because he is dark. This is similar to "IM" because the narrator also felt uncomfortable being himself and was "used" because of his race.

............................

This can also relate to different parts in "The Motorcycle Diaries". When Che was in different cultures he noticed that the Natives were treated as objects. They did not speak very much Spanish because they had native languages. The other people pushed them around. They were used in labor and were not given the same rights. An example would be the woman who went to give her husband food in jail and the guard was pushing her around. Che and Alberto were angry to see the way a woman was being treated. They say here as a human being, but the man saw her as an inferior annoyance.

Richard Rodriguez also had problems with race and language. As a child, he sometimes felt inferior or distant from others because he could not speak to them. When he was younger, minorities were not able to get the same educations and had no chance of getting higher education, which would mean no chance of getting "good" jobs. They could not be teachers or business people and were looked down on because of their low status which was really due to their race.