Post 2: Race

After cooking myself a little something after returning to my apartment from class, I sat comfortably on the couch and stared blankly at the television. I let my brain rot and mold like how it should over the summer - for five hours straight. Of course, I took short 30 second breaks in between to grab some food and drinks to keep myself plump and cool. Inevitably, at the end of five hours, after finishing my unusual television marathon, I finally reached for my New Keywords textbook and proceeded to reboot my brain. I laid down on the couch, and began reading, "Race is a politically charged and ambivalent word that has evaded precise definition..."

It is profound how one word can instantly instigate a flurry of memories, is it not? Reading and thinking about race was like watching a film strip: memories of my being in different environments involving people of different races flashed right before my eyes. To be honest, I only thought of playing basketball and sitting in my Asian American Studies class. I closed my eyes and speculated on how I was to discuss race in those two different environments in a narrative...

On one hand, I figured, race is not an important factor that players think about while playing basketball. More importantly, it does not separate them from one another. In all my uncountable visits to the ARC, I have never experienced a moment where a players excluded one another from playing because of their race. On the basketball court, you may be white, black, yellow, brown, or even green. No one cares - as long as you have talent. In other words, the players are a diverse, homogeneous group.

On the other hand, my Asian American Studies class from the past spring quarter was - predictably - a class full of Asians. We talked about similar key terms in the "Race" chapter discussed in New Keywords, such as racial groups, race-mixing, racial profiling, racial stereotypes, and racial hatred. For example, we all, literally, have heard of stereotypes about different races, such as "Asians are smart" or "African Americans are good at basketball." Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to walk around and be devoid of labeling because of race. Yet, this may be either a good or bad thing; it just depends on how one perceives it. Nonetheless, race somewhat defines the identity of a person.

Having procrastinated for about five hours and working and taking a break, back and forth, for two hours, I believe that this is an appropriate and general analysis of my experiences with race. Although race is a broad topic that may be approached from many directions, there is one fact about it: race is always a part of one's identity.