The concept of race is a complicated topic, globally. Everyone walks on eggshells when talking about race, as they don’t want to say the wrong thing. Especially in America, oppression of ethnicities and races has been a fighting argument for centuries. In Dwight Okita’s poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066”, he dives into this topic with regards to World War II. As Okita takes the perspective of a young Japanese American girl being sent to internment camps, he shines a light on the shift of attitude towards Asian Americans across the country. Pat Mora, a Mexican-American author and poet, conveys her feelings on discrimination and racism in similar ways. In her poem “Legal Alien”, she shares her experiences of being bilingual and bicultural. …show more content…
By allowing the reader to feel her discomfort with herself and her identity, one can imagine or relate to how being a woman can make these problems even more difficult. Using her own point of view makes it easier for her to display her feelings in a way that is easier to digest for society. To feel the torment and tiring exertion of being not only an immigrant/first generation American, but also being a woman carrying that role helps readers deeply connect with the issues discussed in literature. While reading Okita’s story, it was clear that the meaning he laid down for his character was quite compelling. In similar ways, Pat Mora’s poem allowed the reader to be at their most vulnerable, by relating to her or putting themselves in her shoes for the first time. While Mora’s beautiful writing alone held a powerful message, after reading and analyzing Dwight Okita’s use of characters, description, and situations, the cultural issues Mora shared became a lot easier to understand and acknowledge. The issues discussed in both readings can relate to nearly anyone, yet, it may be hard to see that