Analysis Of Brent Staples Two Ways To Belong In America

Racism is a powerful world in societies all over the world today. Regardless of where someone goes, racism in an inevitable act that is inflicted on a person whether they like it or not. In the essay, “Two Ways to Belong in America”, Bharati Mukherjee shares a personal experience that gives a sneak peek on how racism can impact one individual as her and her sister face the new laws on immigration in America. Brent Staples’ essay, “Just Walk on By”, also shares a personal experience of Staples, though he mainly addresses the quick assumptions people make about him just based off of his color. In his article, “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell tells of a man who faces an inner conflict between two races, and how it can affect the way a person

acts around certain races of people. But despite the fact that people everywhere can understand racism and stand on a common ground as one unit of people, it has greatly impacted people globally in such a negative way that it has led to making quick assumptions and rules and weighs down the attitudes of majorities.
Racism has led to making quick assumptions and creating rules that may restrict anyone outside the popular race of an area.

These reactions are based off of what people would like to call a “security blanket”. Staples makes this point when he mentions how “the proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash” (2). Since they were placed in a setting of a jewelry store, the lady automatically assumed, since he was black, that he was going to try and pull a crime, like stealing jewelry. However, based off of how he speaks throughout the rest of his essay, it is safe to assume that he is not the kind of person who would do such a thing. It was wrong of the woman to immediately shut him out, along with his skin color, without even giving him a chance. Just likely, Staples shares his experience with another woman who was walking the same street as him at night. He tells how “to her, the youngish black man . . . seemed menacingly close” (1). It is safe to assume that her quick assumptions were based off of knowledge that she had already attained from hearing of thugs in the ghetto part of town. However, while it is understandable to say how she rather be safe than sorry, because she did not know him, it is also a point to make that he has done nothing that would inflict upon her in any way. Likewise, Mukherjee shares a conversation that she had with her sister, Mira, and how she exclaimed that “[she] felt manipulated

and discarded” (2). She felt this way because the new laws were unjust in the name of immigrants that already lived in America. Mira was right to feel hurt, being an immigrant of Indian origin herself. Mukherjee herself also expressed her feelings of betrayal when the government decided to turn on immigrant communities with their “casual[y] racist outbursts” (4). The casualness of the government when it comes to race in America is a huge understatement when realizing how big of an issue racism really is.
On that note, racism is a big issue that it is known worldwide, bringing people together to relate with one another through the pain they felt. Staples talks about his time when he was only a boy, when acting like a thug meant so many things that were meaningless. He remembers watching “poor and powerless young men [that] seem[ed] to take all this nonsense literally” (2). Likewise, the men he talked about were all different in their own ways, or as the men would call independent. But they all had one thing in common – they felt the wrath of racism, applying it to their everyday lives, only to end up somewhere that real bad people go. They all felt the need to have “power to intimidate” (Staples 2), a common misconception when it comes to the characteristics of black men. Mukherjee, likewise, expresses how ever since the “scapegoating of (‘aliens’ documented or illegal)” (2), they have acted like “more than ever, sisters” (2). She proposes that it was the racism of the government towards immigrants like Mukherjee and her sister that brought them closer as family members. They had something that they could both lean on, which increased the bond between them.
As the main side effect of the racism, a drastic downpour of rain soaks the attitudes of people worldwide.

Orwell portrays this storm on “the greatest joy . . . to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts” (1). This is a weight pulling down on an attitude because due to previous context clues, it is apparent to see that he is not the kind of person to follow through with such drastic measures. His feelings derive from the racism between the British and the Burmans, which ultimately impacted him, being a British originated officer in a Burman village. Along with that, Mukherjee’s attitude changed for the worst when new immigrant laws were introduced. Her attitude change showed another side of her when issues that involved racism appeared. She decided that “[i]f America want[ed] to play the manipulative game, [she’ll] play it, too” (Mukherjee 3). Racism brought her down when assuming that, when reading about her, she is a generally happy person. But racism turned the beauty of her happiness into a tyranny of anger. As the caboose that followed along beind the long train of bad attitudes, the woman on the street who “cast back a worried glance” (Staples 1) was considered as Staples’ first victim to racism. Racism, as the storm cloud over the woman’s head, was the leading cause of the look on her face when she saw a black male following behind her. Surely she was not happy about it, and any mood other than happy has been brought down at some point from an original state of

happiness. This time, it just happened to be racism.
Even though racism has grounds where people can gather in agreement, the influence it holds over people is still powerful enough to blind people from seeing the beauty of diversity, the only thing that can save people from the hatred that dampens their spirits. Racism, in all of its glorious negativity, is a major darkness that people live in. Some choose to accept it, but others decide to speak out and rebel just like the people in “Two Ways to Belong in America”, “Just Walk on By” and “Shooting an Elephant”. Racism is a common enemy. Rise against it.