A different mirror book. A Different Mirror Part 2, Chapter 4: Toward “the Stony Mountains” Summary & Analysis 2023-01-01
A different mirror book Rating:
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"A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America" is a book written by Ronald Takaki that provides a comprehensive and nuanced look at the history of America's diverse communities. The book challenges traditional histories of the United States, which often focus on the experiences of white, European immigrants, and instead highlights the contributions and struggles of Native American, African American, Asian American, Latino, and other minority groups.
One of the main themes of "A Different Mirror" is the way in which America's diverse communities have interacted and intersected with one another throughout history. Takaki argues that America has always been a multicultural nation, with people of different races and cultures living together and influencing each other in complex ways. He cites examples of how different groups have interacted with each other, such as the way African American slaves were influenced by Native American cultures, or how Asian American immigrants were affected by the African American civil rights movement.
Another important theme of the book is the way in which power dynamics have played out between different groups in America. Takaki argues that America's history is marked by ongoing struggles for equality and justice, and he highlights the ways in which various minority groups have fought for their rights and dignity. He also discusses the role of the government in these struggles, and the ways in which laws and policies have either supported or oppressed different groups.
Overall, "A Different Mirror" is a valuable resource for understanding the complex history of America's diverse communities. It provides a nuanced and nuanced look at the ways in which different groups have interacted with each other and the ongoing struggles for equality and justice. By shedding light on the experiences of minority groups, the book challenges traditional histories and helps readers to see America in a different mirror.
A different mirror : a history of multicultural America : Takaki, Ronald T., 1939
If you're a student of hUStory, the section about Asian labor in Hawaii might actually be new to you. These immigrants, almost all of whom were men, were vital to the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, and also played key roles within the agricultural sector. Condensing centuries of history into a chapter or two for each group unavoidably leads to oversimplification and occasionally familiar material; still, an excellent jumping-off place, with bibliographic notes pointing the way for further reading. LXXVI, May 17, 1993, p. The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. He describes their contributions to America. Delving into the history of the many groups that have entered America over time, it has a lot to teach.
A Different Mirror Part 2, Chapter 4: Toward “the Stony Mountains” Summary & Analysis
Perhaps its most famous book is Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Every group mentioned overcame some manner of adversity, and were dehumanized or otherized in specific ways. He does a Takaki presents a revised history of the US; he focuses not on the European white settlers as much as the other groups that have been persecuted along the way. I've had conversations about that book where people have told me that Zinn is biased against white people and "the establishment", just trying to defame America out of spite, to sell books, to score points with minorities. It was also pretty sobering to read the blatant prejudice in the quotes from so many venerated Americans. He did not believe that Native people could be integrated into settler society, and thus established an area west of the Mississippi river where Native people could live freely and govern themselves. Yes, we do need to acknowledge the role of privilege throughout American history, privilege of race, sex, religion, association, and so on.
The journey was difficult, and many died en route. I too am hopeful. Still, updating the old notion that the Earp myth is the American Iliad, the author is at his best when he delineates those fraught spasms of violence. A book I did not know I needed. Some do this better than others.
I am glad that I read it. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Published in 1993, I have only one des This is a very important book. But I support these writers and historians for telling the stories that give a sense of what it was like for people at the time. Definitely a worth while read, but some of his conclusions seem rather naive from 2019. What could have become a loose, baggy monster of a project is given form by several structuring elements. As a work of history, A Different Mirror is teeming with historical events.
It contains so much forgotten pain and trauma that will correct misconceptions, answer unasked questions, and make sense of the American present multicultural reality. He chronicles the divide- and-conquer strategies of white leaders, such as the importation of Chinese laborers to work on plantations and on the railroads, and of Mexican migrant laborers to pick crops. Having read this book immediately after Never fear, o lover of conventional histories: Takaki only uses the Tempestuous analogy heavily for the first ~100 pages ie, 75% of the text has only trivial call-backs to The Tempest. Takaki provides a lot of selective details, but not enough analysis. It's not just the volume of quoted text, but it's skillful application. The land-allotment program, which was originally established by Jefferson, was the main way in which land was taken from the Creek, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes. Again, I'm all about setting the story straight and telling it like it is, so I'm all in favor of a telling these stories and bringing truth to the light.
He emphasizes the importance of understanding the past in order to positively shape the future. The Christian Science Monitor. Also, while major discriminatory legislation is highlighted e. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. He compares the treatment of Native Americans to the treatment of the Irish. However, they faced anti-Semitism in the US too, and in 1924 Congress passed an act that limited the ability of Jewish immigrants to come to the country.
This great country - United States of America grew up and evolved on the backs of so many ethic groups from the American Indians, the Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Italians, Mexicans and so many others. So this was important info and I'm glad it was in the book, but it's not enough. August 10, 1993, p. Meanwhile, Native people continued to suffer under misguided and deliberately harmful government policies. Housing and employment discrimination and violent race riots were a ubiquitous part of life for many black people in the North. In fact, that's kind of the whole idea. Maybe that will increase our communal odds of decreasing injustice, which seems to thrive on selfishness and apathy.
Second, in the first several chapters he employs a device of using Shakespeare's The Tempest with its character Caliban personifying the Other incarnate. The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Takaki suggests that Caliban could have been based on the Irish, whose land was colonized by the English and who were dehumanized in the English imagination. I said recently to a friend of mine, "I can't help wondering how different life in the US would be if we had just taken the time to listen and to learn. The author concludes with a summary of today's changing economic climate and offers Rodney King's challenge to all of us to try to get along.
To some extent, constraints of time and space would serve as understandable explanations for these omissions, but they should be noted, for otherwise he seems to reduce the complexity of the history of whites in America even as he clarifies the histories of peoples of color; this in turn could interfere with his ultimate purpose. . He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I believe that these writers and historians are acting in good faith and aim to right the wrongs of history. Okay, I read a biography on him in the 5th grade, and it left a huge impression on me, but you know what I mean. A valuable survey of the American experience of several racial and ethnic minorities: readable popular history in the mode of Takaki's Strangers from a Different Shore 1989.
