Is Racial Identity And Flexibility In Hua Hsu's The End Of White America?

Racial identity and flexibility may be interpreted in a variety of ways, but first, it 's truly important to understand the meaning of both separated. Racial identity is defined as a sense of group or collective identity based on one 's perception that he or she shares a common heritage with a particular racial group. On the other hand, Racial identity can be considered as having flexibility, which can be defined as the ability to be easily modified. Racial identity and flexibility intertwine because both compliment each other. In Hua Hsu’s essay, “The End of White America?” he argues in support of racial identity and flexibility complementing one another. This proves that the further society evolves the closer mankind gets to eradicating the
However, there are occasions where labels could hinder a person 's opportunity. In fact, culture is the newest label that society takes into account the most, and to a minority, the main goal is to embed the roots of the old generation into the next generation. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to be versatile today, as a matter of fact, often times white Americans find themselves complaining about the lack of culture that makes other’s diverse. Hsu points out that “to be white is to be culturally broke. … They feel disadvantaged, and they feel marginalized. They don’t have a culture that’s cool or oppositional” (505). What Hsu really means by this is white individual’s envy not coming from a diverse background. An individual has a diverse background when they inherit multiple cultures. This allows for flexibility when choosing what culture to identify with. Although this may be true for some individuals, white Americans today tend to believe that it’s more convenient to identify themselves with the group that appeals to them based on styles and cultural backgrounds. Thus, being culturally broke meant finding the niche that one is accepted into in order, to obtain a diverse identity. Hsu emphasizes that culture is a necessity which in turn allows seeing the flexibility of racial identity throughout his examples. Hsu overlooks what can be considered as an important perception of how racial identity can be inherited, which is seen throughout McBride. Having a white Jewish mother and a black father proved to be a huge challenge for McBride as a child it can be seen thoroughly when he mentions, “I-thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didn’t want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black” (McBride 419). McBride is constantly categorized into two different groups black