Essay Sample on Sadiqa Khan's Journey to Understand Race & White Privilege

Introduction

Khan's article describes nation, race, and white privileges according to the experiences of Sadiqa Khan as a Dutch Kenyan woman. The essay also elaborates more on the opportunities provided to the whites from the perspective of racist people. The article explores racial practices involving discrimination of minorities based on their ethnicity (Khan). In Wayson Choy's report, there is a description of the reasons why he was called a "banana." The author expresses his desire to be a citizen in North America. The article explains how the Chinese people found in North America have changed their behaviors to resemble the natives. The Chinese people in the west act and behave like the westerners, but they are still Asians. Through personal experiences of racial bias, the article shows the intensity of bias existing in North America. A comparison of the two materials helps in exploring ethnicity and national identity. Also, textual analysis involving an analysis of the author's messages and symbolism is provided to compare and contrast the articles. The article "I'm Banana and Proud of It" gives a more in-depth insight of ethnicity and nationality identity as compared to "Going Dutch: Reflections on Nation, Race, and Privilege" because of the difference in the use of imagery, symbolism, and persuasion within the articles.

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Assimilation and National Identity: Choy's Reflections

The issue of national identity is elaborated in Khan's article, where the Dutch were privileged because they were perceived to be whites in a racist society (Khan). In the eyes of racist people, any white person is considered to be privileged. As a result of a strong national identity, Khan shows discrimination existing in the society where the minorities were not provided with certain privileges as the whites. The analysis provided by Khan is persuasive because it explains her life experiences while in society and the challenges she faced. Further, Khan's article explores the basis of the division of a person's nationality when it comes to ethnicity(Khan). Similarly, "I'm a Banana and Proud of It" explores the personal experiences of the author through all difficult times which the immigrants go through. The article also explains more about the assimilation that comes because of the surrounding media and society. The issue of nationality is adequately illustrated in the section where the author describes his love for North American citizenship (Choy). The author uses a banana to explain the situation of the Chinese in North American countries. The banana provides proper symbolism of the Chinese who are yellow outside, but they act like whites when in North America.

Effects of Nationalism: Choy's Insights

Nationalism is more elaborated in Choy's article, where the cultural differences created by nationalism showed the differences between races. According to Choy, Indians were responsible for names such as "apples," blacks are named "Oreo cookies," and the Chinese were nicknamed "banana" to tell the story of immigrants(Choy). The use of allusions and metaphors helps in emphasis on the importance of national identity among people of different cultures. The effects of nationalism are elaborated in the article because it changes the perception of the people towards liking one nationalism. In Khan's report, the issue of nationalism is developed through analysis of the racial practices of the Dutch people in the mid-70s (Khan). The author explains that Turkish and Moroccan families were perceived to be a threat to the Dutch people in the Netherlands. The author uses an emotional appeal to show remorse to the racial minorities existing within the social set up.

Comparing and Contrasting the Articles: Ethnicity and National Identity

On the issue of ethnicity, Khan shows the possibility of minorities to die from lack of money for medication, while there are people within the vicinity to help each one of them. The minorities are devalued because their land is used by rich people for production purposes. Additionally, the author explained about the immigrant communities exiting in the society to make the arguments persuasive. The author discusses the treatment given to the Dutch as unfair because they were not whites. On the other hand, Choy's article describes how the young Chinese generation living in china town were reminded not to forget about their roots of origin (Choy). The tone used is severe and convincing, helping the readers understand the influence of the white culture in American society. The tone adopted in the article is also proud because it explained about the pride of the Chinese when the hostilities ended. Using the term "banana" helps in stereotyping the young generation of people who were staying in china town. The elaboration provided in Choy's article helps in giving a convincing overview of ethnicity and national identity.

Conclusion

The two articles elaborate on the roots of national identity and ethnicity among the Dutch and the Chinese immigrants to North America. The analysis shows Choy's report provided a more in-depth analysis of the problem because of the use of imagery and allusions to describe different ethnic minorities. The tone adopted in Choy's article is proud and severe, and it provided an in-depth account of the problems of immigration in North America that has been affecting millions of people in North America. However, Khan's article is also persuasive because it explains the privileges provided to the people as a result of the perception that they are whites. The two materials are elaborative and give personal experiences logical ideas on nationalism and ethnicity.

Works Cited

Choy, W. "I'm a Banana and Proud of It." Word File.

Khan, Sadiqa. "Going Dutch: Reflections on Nation, Race, and Privilege." Word File.