The Gift of Learning from Students!
Reflecting on my time at Cal Poly Pomona
Telling this story was just the start of the adventure; getting feedback from readers has been delightful. Even richer when those readers are University students!
Last fall, I got word that a Cal Poly Pomona professor put The Kindness of Color in his spring curriculum for the Intro to Ethnic Studies class! WOW! I felt so honored but also curious if he had really read it before taking that leap of faith! The Kindness of Color is one of four books for the course and 85 students will write a paper on it! So curious, I contacted Professor Dennis Lopez and that led to getting to meet the classes on campus!
What a rich dialogue we had! On the eve of the 75th Anniversary of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the ruling of Mendez, et al. v. Westminster, et al. , I want to share what these students shared with me in the classroom that day.
I was so pleasantly surprised at how much the students could relate to the story. Despite a diversity of cultures and colors in the room, they expressed how they could relate to so much of the story! It was particularly heart-warming because these students are the future now and have the opportunity to be part of making us all “better together.”
Many of them have immigrant grandparents or parents, or are immigrants themselves. One young man told me he was actually “Issei” (first generation immigrant from Japan). This broke the paradigm in my own head as I’ve always thought of Issei as my grandparents generation, but immigration continues from Japan for work, education, and American lifestyle. I’m not sure why his parents moved from Japan to the US when he was a child, but I was so glad to see him in this class, learning about American history from a multicultural perspective and sharing his own experience with others as well.
Despite our age differences, we had a lot in common. Frankly, I might be the age of some of their grandparents, yet we talked as if this story was happening right now and connected us to each other. Circumstances and society might have changed since the 1940s, but people still have the same potential to be kind or mean spirited, accepting or prejudiced against others, and feel included or excluded deep in their hearts. The students expressed feeling seen and known in these struggles of being called names or dismissed as less intelligent or worthy as others. They could relate to the feelings of those that lived nearly 100 years ago when it comes to these issues of racism and equality. I found myself saying often, “I know, I feel like that too”. I hope they felt a deep sense of comradery as I encouraged them to persevere because they are valued and gifted. Each and every one!
I knew this already, but it was really reiterated in class that day: don’t assume who I am by how I look! In the past, I’ve met a young man who looked Asian, but he really felt more Latino by culture because his mother is Latina and his father is Chinese. All the holidays and family traditions were rooted in his Latino grandparents, not his Chinese father’s culture or last name. In class, one young lady was called Mexican in school, but she is of Nicaraguan and Guatemalan heritage. Same with Asians, we might all look the same to some people, but there are 48 countries in Asia and hundreds of subcultures.
It's important to not make assumptions by how people look to you. There are many different cultures on every continent - for example, you wouldn’t say the British, French, Italian and Germans are all the same just because they are all Europeans!
One of the best discussions was when I asked them how they experience or see cultures being blended today, like my aunts wearing kimonos while playing with blonde American baby dolls as little girls. Here are some things they came up with:
Food
American Independence Day feast of carnitas and enchiladas. What a disappointment for this student when they went to an American family for July 4th and only got hot dogs, chips and lemonade!
Thanksgiving Dinner with Vietnamese Pho’ - turkey Pho’ of course! Or with a traditional Filipino feast!
Korean Taco Trucks - bulgogi instead of ground beef.
Korean-style “corn dogs” made with rice batter vs. corn.
Japanese sushi made with avocado filling.
Aesthetics in Fashion, Art, Home
Kimono-style jackets or Latino embroidered clothing worn with blue jeans
Many Asian brides will wear a western style wedding dress and then a traditional dress for their reception, while the groom wears a western style tuxedo or suit.
Asian art techniques and concepts used to create contemporary pieces.
Mixing the music of many cultures into the contemporary music scene.
Finding homes with the right feng shui of traditional Chinese energy practices.
“818” being a highly regarded area code due to the Chinese belief of 8 being the luckiest number.
Where do you see the blending of cultures in your life, home, community? And isn’t it all the diversity even better together?
I’m hoping some of the students will share their papers with me because I know I’ll learn even more from them on how they are impacted by this true story, this history and what it might inspire them to do in their own community, on campus and at home. Here’s to the students and their bright futures!
Thank You Cal Poly Pomona Ethnic Studies Class and Prof. Lopez! I’ll never forget you or my visit to your class!
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