Blog Week Five

I have chosen to blog on various poems by Mitsuye Yamada to give my take on the concept I believe the writings are attempting to portray.  Poetry has always been difficult for me in different aspects like what is the writer trying to convey, what is the point of the piece and sometimes I have even read a piece and sat there clueless altogether.  I guess what I am attempting to do here is attack a weakness I have in my own reading comprehension.  These are my reasons to blog on the poetry of Mitsuye Yamada.

Camp Notes and Other Writings

By Mitsuye Yamada

Curfew:  “In our area was a block head who told us what’s what in a warden’s helmet” (P 16).  The picture I paint by these words is a military clad personnel member scolding a child who would like to spend some of his/ her night reading.  I am led to believe that the night time has not even fallen completely “the barracks boards in the hot sun had shrunk slyly telling bars of light” (P 16).  I remember growing up and when my mom or dad would put me to bed shortly after night fall how upset I would be.  I believe the character in this piece is upset as well.

Desert Storm:  The first sentence of this poem lets me know how unsanitary the living situation was for the interned Japanese.  The narrator has expressed how the mess hall is situated right along the latrines, “Near the mess hall along the latrines…” (P 20).  The setup of the compound tells me that the interned were neglected and abused.

Inside News:  “We are we the enemy the enemy is the we” (P 21).  At the beginning of the passage the narrator is speaking about a small group huddled around a contraband radio listening to the progress of war efforts.  The announcer on the radio apparently expresses that “we” are losing the war and when the narrator internalizes this information reaches the conclusion that he/ she is American, but interned and finally concludes that “We are the we the enemy is the we.”  Another point that gets me is the radio is pointed out as contraband, maybe because it is used as a source of communication.  I believe that the radio being contraband helped the narrator determine that we are the enemy.

Cincinnati:  This poem saddens me to no end.  The amount of loneliness the relocated must have felt is beyond my comprehension.  The only person the narrator knows of is “…one hissing voice that said dirty jap warm spittle on my right cheek.” (P 32)  I am well aware of walking through

Government Square

in Cincinnati as a native to the area and it still makes me uncomfortable.  To be this person would have been horrendous in that he/ she is truly alone in the area without friends or family and it is designed to become home for this individual.

I have given my best effort in understanding the writings of Mitsuye Yamada.  Below I have attached a photograph of her.

Mitsuye Yamada

Blog Week Four

Mango
By: Christian Langworthy


My five year old son was being obnoxious at about 9:30 Saturday evening so to tame him I decided it would be best to lay down with him and read him a bedtime story. What better story to read to him then Mango by Christian Langworthy, my personal censored version of course. It is coincidental that this story touches on fatherhood and lack of a father figure. The reason I say that is a large part of the story is about two Vietnamese boys who long to know their fathers. I felt special to my son knowing that I was laying there reading to him and being a part of his life at that moment while these two boys will never have the chance to even meet their father due to their death as a soldier in the Vietnam Military Police Movement, otherwise known as the Vietnam War.




The story begins and ends with detailed descriptions of military personnel, military base and activities portrayed by the military. The intent for this detail was to describe the character make up of “Mother’s clients”. Although the story does not specifically mention Mothers’ profession I am led to believe that she is a prostitute. Obviously she does not try to conceal her activities from her two boys. The two boys walked in the room where Mother was servicing one of her clients: “Mother told us to go back to sleep, but we ignored her and watched” (P 226).



Sa and his brother want to know their father; the desire is so overwhelming to them that they even believe their father’s to be still alive after their mom had told them they had died in the war. In one sentence the narrator even says “I looked at Sa, and I knew we wondered the same thing: maybe this soldier was on of our fathers” (P 232). All throughout Mango the narrator mentions how he and his brother want to know their father’s, “Whenever Sa and I were alone with Mother, we asked her about our fathers” (P 230). At one point Sa went as far as asking his Mother “if she had a picture of his father” (P 230).



I have a sense of sadness after reading this story. At the end the boys still believe they have a father that’s living and the author does not give the two any closure on the fact that they will never come to know or much less meet their fathers. I recalled looking down at my son after the reading and thinking how lucky I am to be a part of his life. As a father it is unimaginable for me to fathom a life without my son. But the unanswered question the story leaves me with takes me away from being too judgmental towards Sa and his brother’s fathers. One major question being does the fathers even know they have sons? After all prostitution can leave a person’s life with complexities that communication can usually solve. If the Mother were to inform the father’s that they have children and the father’s still chose not to come around I would react with more accusation towards the men. In my opinion I venture to say that the possibility that Sa and his brother’s father’s are still alive and the mother simply cannot locate them. In Mango I would like to see some more questions answered and I think the author owes that to me as the reader. I chose to blog on this story because I am a father and it touched my heart, I didn’t choose to blog on it because I liked the story and in a few ways I did not like the story.

Blog Week Three

Homebase
by: Shawn Wong

The character in Homebase that I would like to reflect on is Rainsford Chan and the position he had taken particularly in chapter five when Mr. Chan meets an old Indian man on the island of Alcatraz. What has attracted me to this particular chapter and encounter is Shawn Wong’s description of the setting of the event described on pages eighty and eighty-one.

There are two main reasons I have chose to blog on this particular character at this particular event in the novel. Both reasons are of personal interest and both reasons give me recall to events taken place in my life. The first, my ex wife and I spent our honeymoon in the San Francisco Bay area and spent a day touring the island of Alcatraz. I can remember four-inch-thick steel reinforced doors. Rainsford states, “I saw the man that Christmas while I was leaning on a four-inch-thick door that led to an isolation cell” (p. 80).

My second reason is a more personal one that troubles me to speak about. Nine years ago I was placed in a holding cell at the Honolulu Police Department to wait for a ride to pick me up. I was arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. Reading the setting Rainsford described before his conversation had taken place with the Indian man he was speaking about people shivering, being cold and laying on the concrete floor. The setting was surreal. It had brought that horrendous moment of my life straight to the front of my imagination so blatantly that I could almost feel the cold shivers run up my spine. Homebase is an awesome novel that has brought insight and in some instances confusion to my life. Chapter five has brought me to an area of my personal life that I try to forget. I know first hand and I can empathize with what Rainsford had experience that Christmas of 1969. More than empathize I could have been him that night of my life.

The old man Rainsford was carrying on a conversation with chain smoked. At one point the Indian man went for a cigarette and could not locate a match. Finally the old man asks Rainsford for a match and he replies, “Here’s a whole box. Keep warm. Merry Christmas” (p. 84). I imagine in this situation these men were in something as simple as a match had to of been a cherished item of interest for those men and women in that situation. It shows me the kind-hearted nature that Rainsford Chan exudes towards the people he chooses to bring into his heart.

I really enjoyed this book. I was asked in another class I am taking at Miami to keep a journal on a novel of my choice. I asked if the novel could be one that we are reading for another class and the instructor said that was permissible and so I chose Homebase. I have found a number of confusing comments in this book. My motivation for journaling on this novel is to work out the confusion and receive a better understanding of the work.

In closing I want to express that it touches me even more how the author waited until the end of the novel to leave such an impact on me. This chapter alone will be the cornerstone that will always remind me of the novel Homebase by Shawn Wong.

Blog Week Two

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

I chose to blog on the Chinese Exclusion Act. After researching such topics I have become sympathetic to the hardships suffered by the Chinese throughout American history. My initial blog on the writings of Mr. Takaki has opened my eyes to a slew of realization that has simply floored me. My partner and I are doing our research project on Executive Order 9095, so it looks as though I will spend this semester retaining a good understanding of Asian American oppression throughout the years.

What I would like to elaborate on concerning the Chinese Exclusion Act is the degree of punishment a person would receive who transports a Chinese laborer to the U.S. mentioned in section two of the law. What I find strange is that the law was enacted 128 years ago and was considered a misdemeanor punishable with a maximum fine of 500.00 dollars and one year of incarceration. I looked into modern misdemeanor penalties in the state of Ohio and found that the most severe of misdemeanors only carry a maximum penalty of six months incarceration and a 500.00 dollar fine. It is not the amount of time incarcerated that perplexes me, it’s the fine amount. Even today 500.00 dollars is a large amount, but 128 years ago the fine of this amount of money is outrageous. It displays the U.S. intolerance and biasness towards the Chinese attempting to migrate to America.

Another aspect concerning penalties on violation of this law is brought up in section eleven of the act. As you can recall in section two a boat master will only be fined a maximum of 500.00 dollars for his participation involved in the importation of Chinese labor workers. In section eleven it states that the maximum fine penalty will be 1,000.00 dollars for an ordinary person involved in abetting aid to import Chinese labor workers. Both violations of the law are misdemeanors, and what concerns me the most is why a ship master suffers less severe consequences for violations of the same law as an ordinary Joe? This conflict of interest in the law simply shows that even during a time when law was not as respected as it is today legislation still was influenced by social status. It sickens me that the fine penalty for this misdemeanor violation exceeds the maximum fine penalty for a misdemeanor today. According to wikipedia.com in the 1800’s a severe punishment in the fining aspects of a misdemeanor was 35.00 to 40.00 dollars and 65.00 dollars for a felony.

It is not my intent for my classmate to view me as an Anti-American sentiment, I love my country and I am proud to be an American. However, the flaws in our nation’s past need to be addressed and learned from. If such topics as Executive Order 9095, the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Naturalization Law of 1790 are laid to rest then future recurrence may be possible. It all falls under learning from our mistakes, our dark past.

Blog Week One

Strangers from a Different Shore
By: Ronald Takaki ©1998

I lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for 2 years, from 2000 – 2002. I can identify with the diverse cultures that Ronald Takaki was speaking about during his stay in the state. This connection he and I share is the prime reason I have chosen to blog on his essay. In the first paragraph Ronald Takaki quoted the common pidgin dialect of the island. He said, “Hey, da kind tako ono, you know,” (This octopus is delicious). The comment brought back many remarkable conversations I had shared with the locals of Hawaii and gave me a sense of brethren to Ronald Takaki. What I find most admirable about Mr. Takaki is that through his studies concerning Asian Americans he came across so much cruelty the pioneers of Asian American history suffered and still maintains a sense of the greater good that came from the endless amount of suffering early Asian Americans endured. One example is described in Mr. Takaki’s 8th paragraph with the explanation of an article submitted by the editor of The Californians, published in 1987. This article excluded the major contributions made by Asian Americans in pioneering aspects of the United States. The editor went as far as defining pioneers as “Americans and Europeans who settle permanently in California between 1823 and 1869.” Mr. Takaki expresses in his essay this timeframe in American history is when the transcontinental Central Pacific was completed and exalts the thousand of Asians who participated in the construction of this railway that remains a productive means of transportation to this day. Another example is the Naturalization Law of 1790 mentioned in his 19th paragraph. This law stated that naturalized citizenship is exclusive to white Americans only. What is sad about this law is that it was not rescinded until 1952. I can understand the ignorance of American culture in 1790, but for this ignorance to perpetuate until 1952 simply seems unacceptable.

Engaging images I have found online that portray the lifestyle of the Chinese at the time the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enacted can be found at the following link:

http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic2a.html

This compilation of imagery leaves me with a satisfied visualization of the society Chinese men and women lived in during the 1800’s. After reading the essay I was filled with a sense of understanding and compassion for early Asian American pioneers. Honestly, I have not been informed of the rigorous lifestyle these people live in until I have read the essay. It seems our society is so caught up on other early American cultures’ hardships that the early Asian American hardship are just overlooked, and, in my opinion neglected to a degree. This alone speaks volumes on modern Asian American people’s integrity to push forward and not let the past beat them down. I feel as though I have been informed and I look forward to more readings by Ronald Takaki in the future.

Asian participation in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad