1.As we have discussed during the zoom meeting, the moment of Twyla describing Roberta’s mom especially stands out to me from the rest of the story. As a reader, I also have encountered the moment of assuming Roberta’s mother is white because of her appearance. After class, I questioned the reason of my assumption and decided to contemplate on it. I think the issue that divides the two characters is the inability to empathize. Coming from different ethnicity background, Twyla and Roberta fail to stand in each other’s shoes and understand the perspective of the other person. Ego is a weird entity of human. As an individual, one inevitably forms his/her views of the world mostly based on his/her past experiences and hence believes that “the world” = what he/she thinks it is. Everyone is different. It is important to sometimes takeoff our own ego hats and acknowledges the difference in individuality.
2. Growing up as a descendant of both Japanese and Chinese, I had to battle with lots of negativity (regarding the history between China and Japan) from my peers at a very young schooling age. At kindergarten, I did not feel accepted by other classmates. Luckily, I met my first teacher who helped and navigated me along the way. Turned out, kids are not evil at all, they just loved to say ignorant things that they do not even have clues of what those words mean. I was eventually able to overcome the insecurity and blend in. Until this day, I am grateful for my first teacher at kindergarten. When I think about the purity of education, I always think about her. My life could have been different without her.
Ryan, I love to hear you acknowledging the formative power of your kindergarten teacher! I’m sure your teacher would love to know the role she had in shaping your identity. Maybe you should track her down and write to her?