Essay Writing Assignment: Rice for Thanksgiving

Jocelyn Fong’s essay is about her life as a mixed race individual. She uses the dish of rice and gravy to symbolize who she is: a mixture of two different and unexpected entities. Although this is the case, the unusual mixture ends up being something that her family bonds over during the holiday and is apparently also quite delicious. Fong describes some conflicts in her identity that arose due to its ambiguity. She also recounts the rough history that many Asian Americans lived through. There was a large amount of discrimination towards Asians and relationships between Asians and whites were even illegal for a period of time. For Fong, her race is a symbol of triumph over these past grievances. It shows progress towards a more unified and accepting future.

What really struck me about this essay was the correlation that it had to my own life. I, too, am half Asian and half white-American. I went through similar situations in which I questioned my identity and where I fit in. I also understand the fusion of cultures and how, although they are so completely different, they seem to fit together in the end. I suppose one difference would be that I experienced much more Asian culture that Fong since my mother moved here from Korea when she was 25 and still has a hard time with her English. Either way, I found it inspiring and comforting to read this essay.

I was incredibly surprised, however, by Fong’s descriptions of discrimination that Asians faced in the past. American history tends to focus very little on the Asian race and its backround in this country. I knew that there was some racism from learning about the Chinese Exclusion Act, but I had no idea that there was segregation in cities separating Chinese and Americans. A lot has been overcome since then. I guess this made me a little more proud of my heritage, too.

do you have a picture of the cartoon?