Richard Rodriguez is an American author who was born in Sacramento, California to immigrant Mexican parents. His famous works look into the affairs of multiculturalism and diversity(PBS). In “The Chinese in All of Us,” the author claims, “I AM MY CULTURE,” (Rodriguez 729) explaining that the diversity in America shapes our individual culture, and how different ethnicities have influenced his own views on American culture. As Americans, we see the colors of those around us, but sometimes fail to recognize our own culture, until we step out of it. This is the society we live in, work in, have families in, and try to find our true selves in; therefore, it’s important to look at any aspects of what makes all of that up. I concur that America has a very dynamic culture to look at as a whole common entity (Rodriguez 734). Whether we truly feel it is right, or not, we live …show more content…
We want to root for Huck Finn and last in his innocence, yet we are forced into the mold of the American cultural narrative. We’re all taught to speak up, look someone in the eye, use your public language, more often than not, we don’t fit into the persona. Everyone wants to be accepted for who they are as individuals. Further, Rodriguez explains how this public speech and eye contact, has shaped him from a young boy in an Irish-Catholic school being taught by nuns. At first, he didn’t comply, but slowly he finally did. He uses more anecdotal evidence when discussing a black friend of his that graduated from college, and upon returning home, her mother tells her, “I don’t want you talkin’ white in here” (Rodriguez 733). He uses this to show us that American culture swallows us up, and the gaps in cultural perspective. Her mother wasn’t accepting of her using the American scholastic speech that is drilled into us in school, just as it was Huck