Being Polycultural Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Being Polycultural - Essay Example He discusses his own problems as a child who comes from such lineage. He also brings a new point of view regarding various cultures and impact of each on the other. With the help of Robin Kelly’s article, we are going to analyse and discuss, acceptance of children of mixed parentage in the western society and how Kelly’s concept of being polycultural has helped him in his struggle for acceptance. Today we talk about child psychology and not to hurt the young, vulnerable hearts of kids and young children. But whenever we talk about somebody’s lineage and parentage do we realise that the discussion can leave a permanent scar on the mind of the kid? Upbringing of these children in the society: It becomes a challenge for the parents to keep these prejudices at bay when they bring up their children in as neutral environment as possible. However the tragedy starts when the children grow and start realising that they are someone different from the people around. The dif ference is only the colour of the skin they carry but they are constantly made uncomfortable in their own skin. Robin Kelly has described his life as a normal American teenager. In Harlem in the late 1960s and 1970s, Nehru suits were as popular—and as â€Å"black†Ã¢â‚¬â€as dashikis, and martial arts films placed Bruce Lee among a pantheon of black heroes that included Walt Frazier of the New York Knicks and Richard Rountree who played John Shaft in blaxploitation cinema. How do we understand the zoot suit—or the conk—without the pachuco culture of Mexican American youth, or low riders in black communities without Chicanos? How can we discuss black visual artist in the interwar years without reference to the Mexican muralist, or the radical graphics tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, or the Latin American artists influenced by surrealism? (Kelly page 2). In this paragraph he does not wish to describe himself as any person who stands out because of his colour. By quoting common references of every person’s childhood he establishes his connection with them very strongly. He even uses terms and phrases which are used by everyone else. Does that indicate his desire to connect with everyone around him? To be accepted as a normal person who probably thinks the same or is brought up with same ideologies as any other person in America? Robin Kelly has also described the suffering of his younger brother because of the question regarding his mixed culture. Perhaps the most sensitive and protected in the family, his younger brother might have been hugely affected by requiring constant approval and acceptance from his friends. Finally his brother gave up his struggle and chose to settle down in a completely different culture and to the other side of the world. This is sort of voluntary resigning from the situation. Even if he might have gone for his personal benefit, he might have thought of it better to move rather th an have a questioning look on the faces of the people around him. This might be the most difficult decision he has made in his life. Robin Kelly’s sister got her name changed because of the same question, â€Å"What are you†. She tried to solve this problem her way by changing her name. Everyone in the family was terribly affected by the question and every one of them tried to find out his or her own way of dealing with it. How difficult it might be for the parents to create a neutral and believable situation for a healthy and normal upbringing! Refusing the acceptance and denying the existence: Examples like Robin Kelly are abundant in western society. There are so many authors who have written about mixed parentage and the reaction of the society, mostly adverse to them. Like in book ‘Life on the colour Line’