Personal Identity
In the story “Song for my Father” written by Eric Liu, Liu recalls his awkwardness from the people around him because of his hair and skin tone. He finds it hard to fit in because he is different from those around him. His father, an Air Force pilot, immigrated to the United States with his family. Liu was young then and as he adjusts in a different country, he grows apart from his native born land as well. He calls himself “1.5 lingual” because he cannot speak his native Chinese language fluently and have also forgotten how to write in Chinese. As a grown man, he now struggles to face reality and is confined from embracing his own identity.
From reading the story, I learned about his struggles and the discrimination he faces. But I also realized that Eric Liu is not different from me and from my culture. We also faced the same discrimination and prejudice from different groups of people. However, his struggle and his purpose is different from mine. I want to be known for who I really am and where I come from, but in his case, he wants to completely forget about his past. His fragmented knowledge about his father, his father’s past has left him a feeling of being incomplete which makes him ungrounded. In this case, he lacks the knowledge of his collective (personal and family) history which makes him lack the anchor for a sense of self and a bridge of intimacy and connection to people.
My story is different from Eric Liu because if he feels ashamed of his true identity, I am proud of where I came from. I embrace my own native culture and traditions. I migrated to America from the Philippines with my family when I was twelve years old. Even if I am fully adjusted here, me and my family still holds a bridge and connection with our fellow Filipinos. My family and I still speak with our own native tongue and celebrate the Filipino