American like me - 2

 I thought the book American Like Me by America Ferrera was powerful. It's not easy to share such personal experience and struggles let alone share how those experiences impacted your own identity. A good handful of these storytellers are widely known celebrities, so it's nice to see the platform that comes with their name being used to spread positive information about embracing your own and different cultures. 

A lot of times there are conceived barriers in cultural differences. For example, an immigrant from India may not feel relatable to an immigrant from a different country, but this book is a great example of the opposite. Yes, there'll naturally be cultural differences, but the struggles and the effects of those struggles are both very alike.

In the book, Reshma shared her struggles with her name and how her name itself gave her a second identity in America. Similarly, America Ferrera faced issues with the constant teasing of her name to the point where she started to ask teachers to refer to her by her middle name. Both Reshma and America pushed away from their personal identity within youth in attempt to fit in. Many other characters in the novel expressed their stories of breaking barriers and learning to appreciate the uniqueness of their cultures. My favorite part of the reading came when Liza Koshy explained her opinion on why the U.S. being considered a "melting pot" is negative. The individual ingredients in a melting, although important, lose their uniqueness or purpose, and many time immigrants chose to assimilate to American values and lose hide their uniqueness. For this reason, a salad bowl is a better comparison since the ingredients and the differences of the ingredients are all visible and embraced. 



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