Sunday, February 17, 2008
When I Was Growing Up By Nellie Wong
I found this reading selection pretty alarming. It was sad that the writer Nellie Wong wanted to be white so badly and seemed to view white people as superior to herself and her culture. The writer seemed embarrassed by her dark skin color when compared to the white version of beauty that she aspires to. The apparent self-loathing of the narrator is disturbing as she perceives herself in the piece as dirty, feels ashamed of her own cultural heritage and foreign within her own skin. The writer also seemed to be lost and frustrated by the lack of any role models or prominent people in the popular culture that looked like her. In the end, this reading leaves you feeling sad for the author who evidently grew up feeling very uncomfortable with who she was.
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1 comment:
Unfortunately, Nelly Wong apparently was not taught to embrace difference in skin
color and culture. It may be hard, when one grows up in a country as America. You do
not practice much of what your ancestors practiced in their countries. It seems Nelly
Wong lacked a back bone from her upbringing, which affected her perspective of her
image that should have been embraced. It’s awful to feel like an outcast and no one
should have to feel that way or be mistreated, because of how they were born.
I can relate to Nelly Wong living in America. I was not taught my native language, but
I was taught to embrace my race and culture. That made my life easier, especially when
you are born into a country that is more racist than other countries. I am happy with
myself, even though my father always put me down, I had my older siblings as a
backbone. I was able to build self-esteem and embrace my uniqueness.
When I met many people in America of my race that couldn’t speak English, they
would look down on me, because I couldn’t speak Spanish. They left me out and made
fun of me. Unlike Wong’s feelings, I didn’t really care. I feel if others are plain mean,
they aren’t worth my time or a second of my thoughts. I believe people like Wong need
help, because feeling low about yourself will effect your career to family life. That’s not a
pleasant way to live.
Lisa O.
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