Response to, "The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl".

    Our world is inhabited by billions and billions of people, and like snowflakes, these people all have things about themselves that make different from others. In the essay, “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl”, which can be found on page thirty of the textbook, The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers, the author, Elizabeth Wong, discusses her hardships that she faces in her life. Mainly, her issues were focused on what her true identity was. She was brought up in America, but was born to Chinese parents. Although she was used to American schooling, and American customs, she was forced to attend a Chinese school as well. By being forced into two totally different types of schools, she became aware that although she was born Chinese, she truly enjoyed her status as an American much more. It was as if she embraced her role as an American, but felt distant from her Chinese ancestry. This brings up the question, if you are multicultural, like many of us are, which culture would you feel the closest bond to? While many of us are born into families of multiple cultures, it can be a confusing experience to distinguish between the bonds we have to each one.
    I was born into an American family, and primarily consider myself an “All-American Girl”. While I may have been brought up as an American, my family ancestry reaches many parts of the world. From what I have researched, my ancestors came to America from France, Ireland, Italy and probably a few other parts of the world. Sure, it’s true that I’ve never once stepped foot in any of these places, but the fact still remains that I am linked to these nations in one way or another. The problem that I have with the story about Elizabeth Wong, is that she basically hates her true identity. In the story it never mentions that she has been to China, but yet, she complains about learning more about her culture. I simply cannot understand why you wouldn’t want to learn more about your ancestry, or why it would ever be a nuisance to a person. Her annoyance towards her Chinese culture could be due to the fact that she was forced to study, and it left her little time to do things that “normal” children would be doing. As a child, I probably would have thought the same way, but now as a young adult, I find family history and ancestry to be very fulfilling. I take interest in knowing that my ancestors are not all from one nation, and I believe it makes for some awesome diversity.
    While some people, such as Elizabeth Wong, shy away from embracing their culture, I believe that people should be proud of where they come from. There should be no embarrassment, or fear of judgment, because as we know, America is comprised of immigrants. Elizabeth may just have been too young to truly appreciate where her ancestors have brought her, but I believe in time, she will more fully understand how important her culture really is. Ironically enough, I found a quote about diversity that was said by Hu Jinato, who is the paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China. Hu Jinato said, “Diversity in the world is a basic characteristic of human society, and also the key condition for a lively and dynamic world as we see today.” Truthfully, I don’t know if anyone could have summed up our world better than that.