Race Essays - American Culture, Cultural Assimilation, Melting Pot

Race Of Devil "The white race is a race of devils created by their maker to do evil, and make evil appear as good; The white race is the natural unchangeable enemy of the black man, who is the original man, owner, maker, cream of the planet earth." This paragraph is taken from Soul on Ice written by Eldridge Cleaver. I think that the white race is not just the enemy of black men. It is even the enemy of immigrants. Although America is supposed to be a melting pot, immigrants seem like a problem in many peope's eyes. I was born in Hong Kong. Before I came to this country, I thought the U.S was the most beautiful country in the world. I thought people always had freedom and joy in their life in America. But my imagination is not the same as in the real world. People always stare at you when you are a different colors. Especially if you are Chinese, you are segregated from others. Foreigners are always discriminated against by black and white men. How would you feel if someone threw cookies at you because you were Chinese in the subway? How would you feel if someone told you that you cannot sit there because of your race? I wanted to be an American, but they just did not give me a chance, or even a chance to sit next to them. It was my first day of school in America. The school was called New Utrecht. I did not even know how to pronounce it on my first day. Although that school was a little bit smaller than my secondary school in my country, I also felt proud of it. It was because I could try to become an American student. The first thing I had to do on my first day was to go to see my adviser. She was a very nice lady that helped me in New Utrecht. "Americans are nice." This was what I thought at that time. " It is time to go to your first class now." She said. Therefore she led me the way to my first class, a history class. I looked through the window on the door and I did not see any Asian students in there. I was afraid to sit in the classroom. It was not because it was my first day, I just seemed isolated. I knocked on the door several times. The teacher opened the door and asked " May I help you?" Therefore I told him that I was a new student. Then he let me in and he pointed to a seat just in front of his desk. When I looked at the other students, they stared at me without a word. After class the teacher held on to me and said, "If you do not understand what I lectured, talk to me each time after class. Okay?" Then I said I appreciated that. It happened in my all the classes. I just felt I was segregated and isolated from other students. "Ring...ring...ring... " It was the lunch hour. I went to the cafeteria which was on the top floor of the building. Students were separated in three groups, black, white and Asian. I followed the category and sat in the Asian group. Suddenly, there were french-fries thrown in the air. There were several white students throwing their lunch on Asian students. Those Asian students just sat there without any response. Other Chinese students just never had a word. Then white students began to laugh and cheer. They liked that they had won the war. Security guards just stayed there silent. Asian students were treated like slaves or even like animals. Those 40 minute lunch hours just took too long. This was the first time I really felt discriminated against. And it really was very bad. The United States is supposed to be a melting pot, but that melting pot is boiling over with racism, prejudice, intolerance, and ignorance. People are classified by skin color. The Chinese should live in China town. Black people should live in the Bronx and Queens. White should live in Long Island and Manhattan. That's what people always think. I really agree with what was written in the Soul on Ice. The white race is a race of devils. White people think that they are dominant over the other colors. However, the Black Power Movement tried to put an end to the shame of humiliation of being black.