Question

How does Rodriguez feel about using race or ethnicity as the main way to determine identity? Discuss this question with a partner, citing specific textual evidence from the essay to support your ideas
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Answer 1

Rodriguez argues in "Blaxican" that using race or ethnicity as the main way to determine identity is a reductive and outdated method. He states that the United States is now an extremely multicultural and complex community. However, "America does not have a vocabulary like the vocabulary the Spanish empire evolved to describe the multiplicity of racial possibilities in the New World. The conversation, the interior monologue of America cannot rely on the old vocabulary—black, white. We are no longer a black-white nation." This means that old methods of identifying races need to be updated. We need to move away from "races" and towards "mixes," as ultimately the United States is a melting pot of different social, cultural and ethnic groups.

Moreover, instead of focusing solely on race, we should also look at lifestyle. For example, the festivities people celebrate, the food they eat and the hobbies they enjoy. He tells us that: "many young people I meet tell me they feel like Victorians when they identify themselves as black or white. They don’t think of themselves in those terms. And they’re already moving into a world in which tattoo or ornament or movement or commune or sexuality or drug or rave or electronic bombast are the organizing principles of their identity. The notion that they are white or black simply doesn’t occur."

Answer 2

For many years the race was used as a marker of difference among peoples. Meaning to say that race was a marker for the hierarchy of people. Identify in your text which context involves Rodriguez. Does the character have easy-to-identify physical features? What does this represent in the text your teacher recommended? Reflect how Rodriguez's body markers make a difference in his life. And see how these differences find space for him to feel like a person. These aspects will help you understand how some people use race or ethnicity as the primary form of building their identity.