From what Takaki presented in his book is it clear to see that there are some shared experiences that minorities have encountered throughout the history of the United States. These shared patterns include self segregation, lack of an education and interminority racism. Within his book Takaki mentions that several minorities self segregate whether it be physically or mentally. The Chinese and the Italian population are some groups that have physically segregated themselves from others in that they formed small communities such as Chinatown and little Italy. These types of physical segregation can still be seen today since these small communities are still a prominent part of many cities. Others on the other hand segregate themselves mentally in that they have a closed mind when it comes to people who are not like them. For example this could be seen in Milton J. Bennett’s work, Becoming Interculturally Competent. Bennett talks about this closed mindedness when he speaks of ethnocentrism, specifically when he speaks of denial. This still exist today since many people still refuse to acknowledge the existence of other cultures.
A lack of education is also something that is experienced by minorities in America as well. Takaki talks about how Mexican-Americans and the…show more content… During their migration to the United States, the Irish faced discrimination from white Americans. They were considered less valuable than slaves at the time since slaves were seen as property. Because of this Irish Americans began to push their whiteness and started to discriminate the African Americans. () Russian Jews also experienced discrimination from German Jews who had immigrated earlier. The German Jews considered themselves more white than the Russian Jews since they came from central europeans.() Today racism between minorities can be seen in gang related struggles and in between the Hispanic
