In this week’s reading by K. Scott Wong, they analyzed multiple scholar’s works on the construction of different identities around the world. Throughout the chapter, the theme of “blackness” showed up repeatedly. For example, in Brazil, it talked about how successful people were put into a “white” category regardless of their actual skin color. In the same part, it also mentioned how the Japanese in Brazil challenged this notion of “blackness” and “whiteness.” In another part of the chapter, it mentioned how Afro-Amerasians in Vietnam faced more discrimination compared to their half white, half Asian counterparts. I think this idea of anti-blackness is still prevalent today because my parents always tell me to not get too dark when I’m at the beach in the summer or I remember my friends talking about using whitening creams as kids. A metaphor that I found interesting was the use of threads to represent the connectedness of the world. I thought this was a powerful metaphor because threads can be cut and dyed. Both actions could refer to different historical events such as war or imperialization. I found this last excerpt to be influential because it mentions that any movement which attempts to thwart this weaving only creates enmity and distrust. I wonder, was there any other way to create this global transnational identity without the dissolution of cultures in the Pacific?
Works Mentioned
K. Scott Wong "Diasporas, Displacement, and the Construction of Transnational Identities ."
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