America is taught to believe that this country was found and colonized by European immigrants. Historical and mainstream America is ignorantly taught, that anyone who does not have European features is not considered American. Whites are the Americans. Any person who is not of European descent is categorized as “other” or ethnic. This is a filter of the master narrative Ronald Takaki focuses on, on dismantling in his book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. He challenges this history by including the stories of the true diverse America. America fails to teach that this country is built upon the bones of Native, African, Irish, German, and Mexican American ancestry. Takaki’s motive on writing his book is to confront and explain …show more content…
They were “the original Americans” (Takaki, 10) the master narrative never included. The Master Narrative overthrows the reality of the discovery that the New World was deserted when the Europeans invaded the North. Which in factuality during the first settlement of the Europeans, Virginia was the home of fourteen thousand habitants of different tribes and ethnic groups (Takaki, 34). Native Americans had villages of agricultural living in “towns, with forts, storehouses, temples, and framed houses covered with bark and reed mats” (Takaki, 34). Clearly making them the original settlers of the New World. During the English expedition, they brought distress to the Natives that drove them into hostile conflicts. Takaki quotes the awareness of the English motives an Indian had when he told Captain John Smith, “ [We] are here to intreat and desire your friendship and to enjoy our houses…but we perceive and well know you intend to destroy us” (Takaki, 35). Although it came clear to the Native Americans that the English wanted to take ownership, they asked for treaties that provided security of their land and people. Many times these treaties were broken and caused warfare’s that permitted the English to take away Native American land. Throughout their expositions, the English had a very harsh view of the indigenous people in which caused the division between people of color and