After reading Moises Velasquez-Manoff’s “Want to Be Less Racist?” I immediately relate it to Nguyen because if she were to stay where she was from, there would have never been a problem with her name. Coming to America, referred to as the “Mainland” in Velasquez-Manoff’s ideas, made her name too “complex,” so that she ends up changing it to make it simple; fit into the standards here in America because being unique is seen as wrong. Velasquez-Manoff’s ideas relate to this because of how different Hawaii views race compared to the “Mainland.” One thing I really liked that was said in the reading is how “from an early age, [children from Hawaii] see race as something complex and full of nuance, not something simple or black and white.” These children that are raised in Hawaii do not just simply categorize race like the rest of our society does. They make it complex when sharing others culture, ethnicities, and definitions of individuals around them. CHILDREN are able to share who an individual is without judgment while most adults cannot do the same and I find that horrific. Velasquez-Manoff also shares how “racial categorizing is supposed to work like a shorthand, helping us determine how to interact with people while expending minimal energy figuring out who they actually are.” Our society is lazy, careless. I know that is very blunt on my hand, but it is the complexities that make all of us so different, so unique. That should be seen as special not as a disgrace, but instead individuals are practically enforced to change themselves to not feel out of place in America’s standards. Once again this can relate to Nguyen and how America ruined her name, but it can also now relate to “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay. Gay refers to herself as a “bad feminist” because of how society essentializes a “good” one. Essentialism is often brought up in Velasquez-Manoff’s ideas and how race is also heavily categorized. If someone tried to deny the essentialism of race in America, you would be oblivious. Two years ago the murder of George Floyd happened and events like this still happen today. I am bringing this up because Velasquez-Manoff brings to light how children on the mainland view race as a “permanent condition” and see from a young age the stereotypes of races such as “Blacks are aggressive” which creates this on-going problem of essentialism to continue. Dr. Pauker makes note of this when wondering when children start expressing an essentialist view on race because of how normalized it is in THIS society. We now can see from the readings that it really is a huge issue in America and not necessarily other places. Those living in Hawaii can joke about race because they know the importance of it and view it the complete opposite of how everyone else views it. They also know that it is an important topic that shouldn’t be hidden away. It needs to be brought out or this cycle of essentialism will never be broken.

Those in Hawaii according to the reading are not “race-blind.” I think that term is important to keep in mind where I think its a great way to describe our society in one word when it comes to that topic (mainland is race-blind). We can use this term for the people who bullied and judged Nguyen for her given name “Bich” before she changed it to Beth. People acted so dumbfounded and disrespectful because the name came across as “complicated” to them when in reality, the name has a beautiful meaning plus its so unique. Personally I love unique names, in the far future I plan to name my first daughter “Vera” a Russian-origin name that I find gorgeous.

I hope that our class as a whole is digesting these readings because so far all three of them I find extremely valuable and important. It shines light on problems nobody necessarily speaks upon. Each reading connects with the other in some way, and all end up coming together on the ideas of essentialism, categorizing, and stereotyping plus why they are problematic. I also liked the differences between all readings, especially with Velasquez-Manoff bringing in history, our very dark history no one ever wants to talk about. Why I wanted to bring this up is because I was lucky enough to take an elective on Native American Studies my senior year of high school and learned all about the stereotypes Indigenous people faced, plus all the horrors our so-called great society did towards them for being unique and not sharing the same ways of life as caucasians.

The readings show me that there is so much evidence on how America treats others in terrible ways for being “complex” and “individual” and that many people have different stories that can all connect due to having the same theme of why what happened to them occurred. That there is a HUGE issue of making things simplistic rather than seeing people for who they really are. Our society is choosing to make individuals feel ashamed when they are naturally beautiful human beings. This deepens the issue on equal rights and how I think those who live in the U.S.A will always be faced with consequences for being themselves. A sad country if you ask me, and the worst part is, there is really some amazing individuals in this dark country that are hidden due to these inexorable problems we have to face because of our name, culture, race, believes, etc.