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https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/rural-america/?utm_term=.ec9332763b21
As America has industrialized, a cultural divide has started to shaken the cities and countrysides of America. This is not only cultural, as it is evident that everything is different. It is a known fact that countrysides are more conservative and lean to the right. Believing in their own hands and work to make a living, rather than a man in a suit. While cities are more liberal in their politics. This is evidence that as some people are left behind(peeps in the countryside) they become culturally estranged from the rest of the nation. Leaving a divide that cannot be properly healed.

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Research part(Cultural Identity) - Nick Huerta

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Research part(Cultural Identity) - Nick Huerta

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"We need to come back to our roots, define ourselves and find our cultural identity. I believe we are losing our cultural identity, and we need to get it back. Every individual should sing that African song. So many languages and cultures are being eroded, we only know the major ones, what about the others?"

This article by Ijeoma describes her goal and stories to rebuild cultural identity within the youth of this world. She believes that the youth is losing their African cultural identity. If no action is taken to raise her cultural identity, she believes that it will go extinct and be forgotten forever.

This article is significant because it talks about how the new generations have become so enveloped within the more standard cultures around them, rather than their own. This "Americanization" makes kids forget about their real roots and that is Ijeoma's goal. The importance to remember your cultural identity is keen to understand who you really are and what true potential you could hold without even knowing it. This is what defines who you are and that is important to understand.

This connects to Otsuka's poem in a way where Ijeoma is trying to prevent such an instance from happening. Otsuka shows how kids with Japanese heritage soon become ignorant of their own roots and change it to the standards of where they live. The kids in Otsuka's poem represent that of the youth today.

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Iniobong Obinna-Onunkwo is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Education For Youths and Little Weavers, a unique African couture brand targeted at infants and teenagers. Over the past years, Iniobong has worked in various capacities in investment banking, engineering, food and beverage industry and currently, in the fashion industry. She has attended various local and international institutions including the Lagos Business School, University of Port Harcourt and Centro Venezuelano Americano. As a daughter to a diplomat father, her travel experiences has helped her engage and interact with diverse people and cultures which has also formed her passion and quest to ensure that cultural values are preserved and cherished. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, she shares her concerns on our African rich heritage
What inspired Heritage Education for Youths?
The brand Little Weavers actually inspired the heritage education for youths. We need to come back to our roots, define ourselves and find our cultural identity. I believe we are losing our cultural identity, and we need to get it back. Every individual should sing that African song. So many languages and cultures are being eroded, we only know the major ones, what about the others? Who talks or celebrates them, where are the monuments to sing about our heroes, do we have edifices to commemorate events and even when we do, who is talking about them? When I see these things, I am afraid for the younger generation, a lot of parents are sending their kids out and I am afraid for the younger generation. In 50 years some of our unsung cultures will become extinct as no one is carrying on, every culture needs to be preserved and remembered, it is our history and that's what keeps me on my toes everyday that I wake up.

What do youths stand to benefit from the foundation?
The objective of the foundation is to empower the minds of the youths about their culture, about the African heritage and of course to educate the global village, to have a change of their perspective about their heritage as well as evolutionalise the entire culture, when it comes to Africa. I mean, it had to take Black Panther almost like a breakthrough for people to believe that there is something called Wakanda, because I did a research and didn't see any Wakanda anywhere, but its idea is to give people a feeling that Africa has arrived and is here to stay.

How does the foundation aim to achieve its objectives. Are there programmes targeted at this?
We have a list of programmes set up. We have the Mini Me show and the idea is to have educationists come on board, talk to parents about embracing the African heritage not just in line with the perspective of the Nigerian culture. It goes beyond that because in schools we have people that celebrate other African countries and we hear people talking about different costumes like the Zimbabweans, South African, Ghanaians, the Kente and more. So the mini me show is for the mothers and children to wear the same outfit and the kids talk about why they really love Africa, what is so intriguing about Africa, what do they understand about Africa, African presidents, African stories, African history and then the mum should also speak out and say I could be a career mother, a professional in whatever field I am, but I also embrace my cultural heritage, which is why wherever I am, you find a little flavour of something afrocentric around me.

We also have the educational package; my daughter and I already set it up. We travelled last year to Ogbunike caves, located in Anambra State. The idea is to take such trips anytime she's on holiday around Nigeria and some bordering African countries and, as we have sponsors and finances, we should be able to extend our travels around Africa. The idea is to give people that awareness of setting up tourist places, we have them in Europe and people pay loads of money to visit these tourist areas, what about us here in Africa? Where are the tourist sites that people should erect hotels and commercialise these areas? We are talking about bringing cultural awareness as well as income. Has the government thought of commercialising these tourist areas that they can access easily and with a tour guide. So we have that as an educational package.

Does the Little Weavers brand play any role in this?
Yes, we have a Little Weavers Academy where the children come to. We had something last August, they came in here, parents dropped off their children and they were really impressed, we did a lot of African arts and crafts, simple tailoring and the idea of that is to trickle in entrepreneurship. So when have an idea of it, I can actually harness my potentials, I may not need my mum to put on my button for me, I should be able to do something stylish and then set-up myself. So we expect that parents bring their children and encourage them. So if a child is good at sketching or drawings, he/she should be able to draw or illustrate an outfit, even from four years old and so the idea is to build up and empower the minds of the children.

The final aspect is training the communities; we already had some discussions with the local government council at Shitta and we want to set up a community where the young ones will come together, do some training and then we create a marketplace and encourage people to come and buy their wares. We want to empower the women as well as the youths, gradually I think with little incentive like this it will build back and get back our culture. So imagine if we have that at Shitta, Lekki, Ikeja, not just in Lagos because will spreads to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Kaduna and then beyond Nigeria to become a pan-African movement. We are at the stage where we are building our content and also sending out our message to people. For us, work is on top gear as we are putting up our educational packages together which we present to schools, including our proposals.

What drives you?
I have travelled and whenever I mix up with other tribes, I am at the point of shedding tears. I have met with a German, Venezuelan among other tribes and the way they talk so well about their culture and when they talk about Nigeria, the only knowledge they have is football and I tell them we have diverse cultures and they are willing to learn about them, that has been my drive. No one is celebrating it, there is more to wearing buba and Aso-Oke and when I talk to foreigners about Nigeria, they look forward to visiting us. I feel there is need for us to address this, it should start from schools, our kids should begin to wear Afrocentric attire (ankara) on denim on Fridays; I started this in two schools where they also make a 10-minute presentation about a particular country or something parents don't even know. We should start from the roots.

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'Our cultural identity is gradually fading away and we need to get it back'

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The brand Little Weavers actually inspired the heritage education for youths. We need to come back to our roots, define ourselves and find our cultural identity. I believe we are losing our cultural identity, and we need to get it back.

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"including the loss of cultural norms, religious customs, and social support systems, adjustment to a new culture and changes in identity and concept of self"

Migrating has many stresses, such as the ones above, that cause people to want to fit in. This however, makes them either lose touch with their culture and traditions, or they remain the same but get ridiculed for their differences. This article has to do with both cultural estrangement and cultural shame, as they typically go hand in hand. This ideology of needing to fit in regardless of your roots, is apparent in the text Buddha in the attic, and represented through the kids, who eventually start cutting of their own culture. However, the cultural shame comes from the kids, who dislike their parent's culture and is embarrassed about it.

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Abstract

Migration has contributed to the richness in diversity of cultures, ethnicities and races in developed countries. Individuals who migrate experience multiple stresses that can impact their mental well being, including the loss of cultural norms, religious customs, and social support systems, adjustment to a new culture and changes in identity and concept of self. Indeed, the rates of mental illness are increased in some migrant groups. Mental health practitioners need to be attuned to the unique stresses and cultural aspects that affect immigrants and refugees in order to best address the needs of this increasing and vulnerable population. This paper will review the concepts of migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity, and explore the interrelationship between these three aspects of the migrant's experience and cultural congruity. The complex interplay of the migration process, cultural bereavement, cultural identity, and cultural congruity, along with biological, psychological and social factors, is hypothesized as playing a major role in the increased rates of mental illness in affected migrant groups.

Keywords: Migration, cultural bereavement, cultural identity, cultural congruity, ethnic density

Mental health practitioners work in an increasingly multicultural world, shaped by the migrations of people of many different cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. People migrate for many reasons, including broadly political, socioeconomic and educational. The richness of this diversity of cultures, ethnicity, races and reasons for migration can make understanding experiences and diagnosis of illness challenging in people whose background and experience differ significantly from the clinician. Culture has an important role in the presentation of illness, and cultural differences impact upon the diagnosis and treatment of migrant populations in part due to linguistic, religious and social variation from the clinician providing care. Additionally, it appears that the incidence and prevalence of psychiatric disorders varies among people of different cultural backgrounds due to an interplay of biological, psychological and social factors.

The provision of healthcare is necessarily influenced by the demands of people of many different cultures, but relies on economic, social and political factors, and it is important that cultural differences be appreciated and understood to arrive at a correct diagnostic impression and treatment plan. The migration process itself can be stressful, depending upon the type and cause of migration, and can affect the mental health of migrating individuals and their families. Issues of cultural bereavement and identity occur with increased frequency among migrants and their families. This paper will review these concepts and how they impinge upon mental health and psychiatric care and, by so doing, help the clinician to identify and address these issues in a culturally sensitive way.

MIGRATION

The history of migration to Britain highlights some of the reasons why people migrate. Significant migration to Britain started in the nineteenth century. Irish immigration has been marked by periods of influx and efflux to and from Britain, as people have come to either settle permanently or work temporarily with ultimate return to Ireland as a goal. Eastern European Jews came at the latter part of the nineteenth century to escape both religious persecution and poverty, with additional numbers arriving in Britain both before and after World War II. In the 1960s, employers, especially in urban areas, recruited people from the West Indies to fill low paying jobs which were less attractive to the local population. People from the Indian subcontinent migrated to Britain for educational and economic reasons, the peak of which occurred about the same time as the West Indian migration. Asian people expelled by Idi Amin's government came from Uganda in the late 1970s. The 1980s saw a change in the immigration laws limiting the numbers of people allowed to relocate to Britain ( 4). Today, people from around the globe choose to migrate to the UK as well as other developed countries, both legally and illegally, for better educational and employment opportunities, to escape persecution, to relocate after catastrophic events, including terrorism, disasters and war, and/or to join relatives who migrated at an earlier time.

Migration can be classified in a number of ways; e.g., by the reasons for the migration, the social class and education of the migrating people, the duration of relocation and the geographic distribution of the resettlement. Further, a distinction can be made in the classification of migrants according to whether their contact with the 'majority' or 'dominant' culture is deemed voluntary. Migrants can be classified as immigrants and sojourners when the change in their location results in contact voluntarily, whereas refugees are deemed to change their location involuntarily ( 5). For example, immigrants choose to migrate, and thus be in increased and regular contact with the 'majority' culture in preparation for migration, for potential economic and/or educational advancement, whereas refugees are forced to migrate, and thus be in contact with the 'majority' population involuntarily, to escape persecution. Additionally, rural-urban migration has been associated with economic and educational reasons for relocation, whereas migration across nations has been associated with economic, educational, social and political reasons ( 6).

The process of migration has been described as occurring in broadly three stages. The first stage is pre-migration, involving the decision and preparation to move. The second stage, migration, is the physical relocation of individuals from one place to another. The third stage, postmigration, is defined as the "absorption of the immigrant within the social and cultural framework of the new society". Social and cultural rules and new roles may be learnt at this stage ( 4). The initial stage of migration may have comparatively lower rates of mental illness and health problems than the latter stages, due to the younger age at the initial stage of migration and the problems with acculturation and the potential discrepancy between attainment of goals and actual achievement in the latter stages ( 7). It is worth noting that the stages are often not discrete and merge into one another.

CULTURAL BEREAVEMENT

The DSM-IV notes that the "duration and expression of 'normal' bereavement vary considerably among different cultural groups". A major depressive episode is diagnosed, instead of bereavement, if symptoms of depression are present two or more months after the loss or the following symptoms are present: a) guilt about things other than actions taken or not taken by the survivor at the time of the death; b) thoughts of death other than the survivor feeling that he or she would be better off dead or should have died with the deceased person; c) morbid preoccupation with worthlessness; d) marked psychomotor retardation; e) prolonged and marked functional impairment; and f) hallucinatory experiences other than thinking that he or she hears the voice of, or transiently sees the image of, the deceased person. These symptoms are based on a Western construct for the diagnosis of abnormal grief and as such do not take into account different cultural expressions of grief. In many cultures, it is normal to be visited by spirits and ghosts, and people of non-Western culture may describe conversations with supernatural spirits. The importance of placing these expressions of grief in the appropriate cultural context is essential in differentiating between abnormal and normal reactions to loss. Inappropriate diagnoses of psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mood disorders have been made in people of non-Western backgrounds when clinicians ignore cultural differences in the expression of grief. The misdiagnosis and subsequent inappropriate treatment will at best not address the issue for the affected person and, at worst, cause harm.

Bereavement has been associated with psychotic, anxiety and mood disorders; however, this association is complicated due to the misinterpretation of the cultural expressions of grief by Western trained clinicians and the Western diagnostic criteria of psychiatric disorders that may not be applicable in people of different cultural backgrounds. Undoubtedly, people who have migrated due to political upheaval or war may have witnessed or participated in combat and torture; thus, affected individuals may have PTSD and bereavement, as these diagnoses are not mutually exclusive. Culturally appropriate mani- festations and expressions of bereavement may include Western constructs of PTSD and psychosis, including hearing voices, seeing ghosts and feeling the presence of the dead; therefore, it is important to recognize the symptoms of bereavement within the cultural constructs of the affected individual and be open to the possibility of additional psychiatric disorders. Cultural bereavement is an important aspect in the understanding of the migrant's experience. Our hypothesis is that such an experience will be mediated through and influenced by cultural identity. The concepts of individual identity are likely to affect the understanding as well as working through the bereavement process.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

It is important to define basic sociologic terms of identity to understand cultural identity. Culture is learned and passed through generations and includes the beliefs and value system of a society. Culture has been described as features that are shared and bind people together into a community ( 17). Identity is the totality of one's perception of self, or how we as individuals view ourselves as unique from others. Bhugra ( 6, 7) notes that racial, cultural and ethnic identities form part of one's identity, and identity will change with development at a personal as well as at a social level along with migration and acculturation. Social identity can be thought of as the culturally defined personality characteristics, which are ascribed to social roles, such as the role of being a father, mother, friend, employer, employee, etc. Ethnicity is a source of social identity. Ethnic groups are composed of people who may or may not share the same race but do share common cultural characteristics, including history, beliefs, values, food and entertainment preferences, religion and language. Ethnicity typically incorporates both race and culture ( 17). Race is based on biologic constructs, such as sharing certain physical attributes; it may or not be also a social and political construct ( 17). For example, people from the West Indies, Africa and parts of North and South America may share the same race but have different beliefs, value systems, social norms and idioms of distress.

Psychosocial changes experienced by immigrants include assimilation, which can be viewed as a process by which cultural differences disappear as immigrant communities adapt to the majority or host culture and value system. An individual's cultural identity may be lost during the assimilation process as he or she moves within the host society. Acculturation, a process that may be voluntary or forced, requires contact between culturally divergent groups of people and results in the assimilation of cultural values, customs, beliefs and language by a minority group within a majority community ( 8). During the acculturation process, both the immigrant and host cultures may change. Changes in attitudes, family values, generational status and social affiliations can occur in both the majority and minority cultures as the two interact; however, typically one culture dominates ( 7).

Acculturation may help the culturally bereaved individual to gain a semblance of equilibrium. Migrants who experience the loss of their culture and guilt over leaving their homeland may find that, as the acculturation process proceeds, a sense of belonging in their new homeland occurs. The majority culture may seem less threatening and more inviting as the individual becomes more linguistically and socially fluent in this new culture. Social sup- port can ensue in the forms of friendships, employment opportunities, and medical care. Integration and assimilation can help reduce feelings of loss and grief as the migrant starts to incorporate aspects of the majority culture. In acculturation, the interaction of the migrant's culture with the majority culture of the new homeland is a dynamic and reciprocal process that can result in changes in the broader cultural group, enhancing the ability of people of the dominant culture to better appreciate and understand aspects of the immigrant's culture and recognize some of the needs of those who have migrated.

CULTURAL CONGRUITY

Ethnic density, the size of a particular ethnic group in proportion to the total population in a specified area, may be a factor that influences the rates of mental illness in ethnic minorities. Additionally, a sense of alienation may occur if the cultural and social characteristics of an individual differ from those of the surrounding population, whereas a sense of belonging tends to occur if the individual and surrounding population have similar cultural and social characteristics. Bhugra ( 6) writes of the importance of ethnic and cultural congruity, interaction patterns and cultural identity in the genesis and maintenance of mental distress in migrants. Cultural congruity may be thought of as the congruence or dissonance of an individual's culture, beliefs and expectations with the surrounding population. The surrounding population may be made up predominantly of people from the same or different cultural background compared to the migrant. An increase in ethnic density may improve the social support and the adjustment of some individuals who have migrated, yet increase distress in others, in particular if there exists a cultural conflict between the individual and his culture of origin ( 9). This may account for some of the conflicting results from studies of the relationship between ethnic density and the incidence of mental illness in ethnic minority groups. For example, an inverse correlation between the incidence of schizophrenia in non-white ethnic minorities in London and the proportion of those minorities in the local population was found; it was hypothesized that increased exposure to or a lack of protection from stress may increase the rate of schizophrenia in non-white ethnic minorities ( 19); however, a previous study failed to support the ethnic density hypothesis for the increased incidence of schizophrenia in immigrant groups to England ( 20).

In a review of multiple studies, Shah ( 17) found that common mental disorders were more prevalent in people of ethnic minority groups who lived in areas of low density of their own ethnic group. His findings showed that common mental disorders were at least as prevalent in ethnic minority groups as in the indigenous population and, in some ethnic minority groups, more prevalent. Depression may be more prevalent in the Caribbean and African populations compared to the majority population, with phobias more common in Asian groups. Risk factors for common mental disorders in ethnic minority groups include poverty, unemployment, migration before the age of 11, racism, a perceived lack of social support, social isolation, absence of a confidante and absence of parents in law ( 17). The incidence of schizophrenia was higher in an urban area of south-east London compared to rural areas in south-west Scotland, due to the larger proportion of non-white ethnic minority groups living in the urban area compared to the rural area ( 21), with an overall increase in the incidence of schizophrenia in south-east London between 1965 and 1997 ( 22).

It is important to consider the nature of the society an individual has migrated from and to, and the social characteristics of the individual who has migrated, in determining how well a person will adjust during the migration process. Socio-centric, or collectivistic, societies stress cohesiveness, strong ties between individuals, group solidarity, emotional inter-dependence, traditionalism and a collective identity. Egocentric, or individualistic, societies stress independence, loose ties between individuals, emotional independence, liberalism, self-sufficiency, individual initiative, and autonomy. Bhugra ( 6) has hypothesized that individuals who migrate from predominately sociocentric, or collectivistic, societies into a society that is predominately egocentric, or individualistic, are likely to have problems adjusting to the new culture, especially if the individuals are socio-centric in their own belief system. A consequent lack of an adequate social support system, a disparity between expectations and achievements and a low self-esteem may result from this dissonance in culture between the individual and the surrounding population. An increase in ethnic density may help decrease the distress of the individual in this situation, especially by providing a social support system. For example, a person who migrates to the United States, a predominately egocentric society, from Vietnam, a predominately socio-centric society, may feel isolated and alienated, especially if the individual is socio-centric in outlook. Feelings of isolation and alienation may be decreased, and social support improved, if other people from Vietnam, with socio-centric views, surround this person in the area of resettlement; however, the socio-centric individual may remain on the periphery of his/her new homeland's society since linguistic and social fluency of the dominant culture may not be attained. Cultural bereavement may also be minimized if the immigrant is able to maintain ties to the culture of origin, either through increased ethnic density, improved social support or maintenance of religious beliefs and practice. On the other hand, individuals who migrate from a predominately socio-centric culture into a society that is predominately egocentric in nature may experience little in the way of problems, and a relatively easy transition to the new culture, if the person who has migrated is mostly egocentric, or individualistic, in his/her outlook. In this case, an increase in ethnic density may be disadvantageous and exacerbate or cause cultural conflict and mental distress.

CONCLUSIONS

The proportion of ethnic minorities in the UK has been increasing at least in part due to the migration of individuals from all over the world. Migration is a complex process, involving a heterogeneity of causes, experiences, cultural adjustment and stages, that influence the mental health of migrants. The stresses of the migration process itself combined with a lack of social support, a discrepancy between achievement and expectations, economic hardships, racial discrimination and harassment, and a lack of access to proper housing, medical care, and religious practice can lead to poor self-esteem, an inability to adjust, and poor physical and mental health. Social and cultural factors have been implicated in the aetiology of mental illness in immigrants and refugees, and further study is needed to better understand the role of culture as pathogenic or patho-protective ( 7).

Cultural bereavement, a paramount aspect of the migrant's experience, is influenced by, and mediated through, the interplay of the migration process, cultural identity and cultural congruity, along with biological and psychological factors. To appropriately guide diagnosis and treatment interventions, mental health practitioners must appreciate and recognize the socio-cultural factors that influence the manifestation of grief in people who have migrated. Cultural identity and congruity will affect the ability of the affected person to understand and work through the grieving process, and disturbances of identity and congruity are likely to lead to a pathologic, or complicated, bereavement.

Rates of depression, phobias and schizophrenia are elevated in some migrant groups. The understanding of race, ethnicity, social isolation and a lack of social support, racism, unemployment and poverty, poor housing and a lack of access to appropriate medical care is important in explaining the increased rates of mental illness in ethnic minority groups. Additionally, cultural congruity and ethnic density, cultural identity, and biological and psychological factors are likely important influences in the development of mental illness in migrants. With further study, a better understanding of the complex interplay of these potential vulnerability factors may eventually lead to preventative measures and lessen the burden of mental illness in this growing population.

References

8. Bhugra D. Ayonrinde O. Depression in migrants and ethnic minorities. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2004;10:13-17. [ Google Scholar]

9. Bhugra D. Jones P. Migration and mental illness. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2001;7:216-223. [ Google Scholar]

18. Bhugra D. Bhui K. Mallett R, et al. Cultural identity and its measurement: a questionnaire for Asians. Int Rev Psychiatry. 1999;11:244-249. [ Google Scholar]

19. Boydell J. Van Os J. McKenzie J, et al. Incidence of schizophrenia in ethnic minorities in London: ecological study into interaction with the environment. Br Med J. 2001;323:1336-1337. [[ PMC free article] [ PubMed] Google Scholar]

Articles from World Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of The World Psychiatric Association

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Migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity

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Migration has contributed to the richness in diversity of cultures, ethnicities and races in developed countries. Individuals who migrate experience multiple stresses that can impact their mental well being, including the loss of cultural norms, religious ...

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What is the writer trying to say through this message/theme? Use evidence from your posters.

We noticed a pattern in the evidence for (cultural identity, cultural estrangement, us vs. them, dreams) that younger generations tend to want to feel equal, so they adapt to the lifestyle of a common American, rather than valuing their cultural roots as well. They forget about their true culture and only think for themselves of wanting to fit in. They really became ignorant of everything around them and really cut themselves off from everybody else. As they grew "they seemed to slip further and further from our grasp" as they grew up and continued going to school while their parents worked. They soon were to become influenced by the other standards they were to exposed to while at school. This type of exposure caused them to isolate themselves in a way.

Through that pattern, we think the author is trying to tell us that keeping family close is extremely important. The kids in Otsuka's poem weren't fortunate enough to have all the time in the world with their parents. They were always out working, and without the help from their parents, they would soon forget about their culture or advise that was given from their parents. Clearly present in BITA, as the kids grew up over time and became smarter, they began to adapt to the lifestyles around them because their mother wasn't their to teach or remind them about what they should or shouldn't be doing.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/japanese-americans-still-grapple-withmixed-legacy/2012/03/02/gIQAN3HEAS_story.html?utm_term=.bc37e80d9e75

In 1988, the U.S government apologized to thousands of Japanese Americans for displacing them from their homes into camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. There was an honoring made for Japanese as well as the article points out how over 800,000 Japanese migrated to America more than a century ago. This relates to the reading as many Japanese felt discriminated against and there was a sense of alienation within them.

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When one analyzes "The Buddha In The Attic" by Julie Otsuka, as the family seems to have a history of financial struggle as well as alienation they have developed a strong sense of inequality which leads them to eventually want to adapt to the new culture they are surrounded by in America.

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Cultural Shame/Identity/Estrangement

1. Summary/Implications/Connections

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Throughout the entirety of the passage, it is evident that as the story goes on, the relationship between the mother and her kids becomes more distant and the kids slowly become more independent and adapt to the American culture rather than their Japanese roots.

"They spoke perfect English just like on the radio and whenever they caught us bowing before the kitchen god in the kitchen and clapping our hands they rolled their eyes and said, 'Mama, please."(75)

"They played shadow catch shadow on moonlit nights in the orchards, just as we had back home in Japan."(65)

Both of these quotes show the differences of the children's behavior before they started to separate from their mom. They used to be curious, energetic children, but once they started getting older, they got corrupted by the American standards and started to forget their Japanese roots. They were feeling more American now than Japanese. These thoughts of abandoning Japanese cultures only start once the mother starts sending them off to school to learn instead of work.

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The definiton is when one isolates themselves from their own culture to try to become a different culture. Evidenced by los ninos. Especially by how
"they refused to use chopsticks(Otsuka 75), the text illustrates the growing divide between the kids and parents. The kids are becoming culturally estranged from the culture of their parents. And their parents can only watch as they lose their children to the culture of America.

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"One by one all the old words we had taught them began to disappear from their heads. They forgot the names of flowers in Japanese. They forgot the names of the colors..."(Otsuka 72-73)

"But whenever we heard them talking out loud in their sleep the words that came out of their mouths came out--we were sure of it-- in Japanese." (Otsuka 73)

The first evidence talks about how the kids are cutting off their own culture, and are trying to embrace a new culture. And yet, at night they go back to their old roots, bringing a sense of nostalgia in the eyes of the parents. This nostalgia shows that although the kids are embracing a different culture, they will always have the roots of being Japanese.

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The speaker shows a sense of pride as they mention to
"Never marry an Okinawan" because "they're not real Japanese" (Otsuka 69).  This shows how the speaker shows pride and preference for pure Japanese to the point where not even Okinawans are good enough. The speaker also makes a diss to other races as they mention to "Stay away from the Chinese", to not "be loud like the Americans" and even to "be careful around the Filipinos". Here, it is clear that there is a very strong sense of distrust for others as well as a strong sense of alienation in the family that eventually will make them want to adapt.

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#1. How does the speaker suggest that there is a sense of pride about her own roots?

#2. How does the speaker insinuate that one of the battles parents face is the distance which exists between them and their children?

#3. How does the speaker establish a sense of nostalgia throughout the piece and why is that nostalgia significant?