Some Thoughts on Race
The them of race seems to be most prominent in this section of the reading and was brought on by the character John Kwang in some of his speech (though as a politician I’m not surprised since race today is a common political issue). I feel that Lee uses him to talk about race relations not only between the standard whites and blacks but also goes into other races, like the asians (even between asians and blacks), hispanics, etc. He’s thinking outside the box if you will. I was wondering when some of this stuff would be discussed more in depth since the topic of race has been prodded and poked to death in different parts of the book. Kwang seems to bring about the topic’s revival in my opinion.
On page 152 there was a quote from Kwang that I found striking. “Yes, let us think differently today. The problem is our acceptance of what we loathe and fear in ourselves. Not in the other, not in the person standing next to you, not in the one living outside in your street, not in the one who drives your bus…” It seems to accurately address alot of what is felt when it comes to race relations. Setting aside the different races you get just the human being, which is what really needs to be examined.
Breaking that quote down Kwang seems to be saying that we can’t accept another person, no matter how different or similar they are to us, until we can grow to accept ourselves. There is always something we hate about ourselves even if it’s something seldomly admitted. What we hate we tend to notice more and we start to see that in other people, in other races even. We pick those things out, give them labels. Those labels grow to become commong stereotypes and those sterotypes become definitions for a certain kind of people. And there we’ve gone, from hating outselves to hating others.
We cannot accept others unless we grow to accept ourselves and that’s what makes humans such difficult creatures. We find it hard to see beyond our own flaws so we pick flaws out in other people. It’s easier to make a negative comment about someone or something than it is to make a positive comment. As an example, take a moment to think of any stereotype for any race, then try and think of something good to say. Which one comes easier? Which one does the mind jump to first? The positive or the negative?
I may have picked that apart too much but I think that may be the point Kwang was getting at with that quote. Racism starts witht he individual, not the race.
March 25, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I think you picked a good and interesting quote from the novel and make a lot of interesting points with it. I think you’re discussion on hating something about onesself and putting that on another person or group of people is right on. Often that hate comes from our own insecurities and problems. It’s tough to accept other people when we can’t accept ourselves.
March 25, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I really like the work you have done here, very informative. I think it is important because Kwang does say that we have to grow and accept others, and when that doesn’t happen for him, he ultimately falls apart and ends up getting sent back to Korea. It seems that Kwang is almost a martyr for a cause that no one is really paying any attention to..
March 26, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Those are some good examples of race that you pointed out with Kwang’s speech and I think that we could all learn something from that. It is true that we cannot accept other until we accept ourselves and labeling people just leads to more heartaches. Nice touch at the end of racism starting with the individual.
March 26, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Wow that is really true about how we cannot accept others unless we grow to accept ourself and finding it hard to see beyond our own flaws which leads us to pic out others flaws I find myself doing that sometimes and i really need to refrain from making that choice. Good example about stereotyping!