Blog Topic Five: What has changed since these plays were written? Are there people who still suffer like those in the plays we read?

           While racism still exists today, a lot has changed about the issues looked at in the five plays we read for this week. Like school children still make fun of those who are different and act upon their ignorance, there is probably still racism in the military for African Americans, as well as for anyone seen as different. The biggest thing to note is the achievement noted in the play about integration of black and white troops and the growing acceptance of African Americans as equal members of the military. While I don’t think there is a complete abolishment of unfair attitudes and treatment, there is at least more acceptance and equal opportunity to be in the military and fight as one unit.

            Just as there is still racism in the military, there is still disdain for those that choose to use Black English. In the past it was used as an easier way to communicate with white slave owners who did not understand the African culture their slaves came from. Recently I saw African American children interacting with their one white classmate, and she talked exactly the way they did. It is a way to talk that people grow up with, just as someone from England will have a British accent and someone from the south will have a Southern accent. The disdain once again comes from the difference people see and how they associate this language with people of a certain culture. People associate Southern accents with rednecks and some people will associate people who speak Black English with people from bad neighborhoods with low income and a lack of education, when it really is just a different way to communicate.  

            The identity crisis Bibi faced centered on dual identities from being a part of Chinese and American culture, but I think we all have at one point faced an ‘identity crisis’ where we wonder where our future lies or what things define who we are. It’s a natural way of living life. One could ask, “Am I going to become an artist or am I going to major in political science like my sister?” As long as someone grows up as a child close to or exposed to his or her ethnicity, there will be even more difficulty in deciding what kind of person to be. Bibi had so many choices, but only a few were acceptable to her strict Chinese mother, who did not support her dream of becoming an actress. Though Bibi had the freedom to choose that as her career path, she had the choices her mother laid out for her standing in her way and making her question herself. If she could not gain approval and support from her mother, was it really worth it?

            There are those who still face these issues today, as there isn’t a complete eradication of the issues themselves. They are students, lawyers, businessmen, farmers, children, writers, etc. People of color still face acts of discrimination and racism due to the ignorance of other people, and it will change their paths in life, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. These playwrights writing about these issues are attempting to make things better by educating on the experience of others, and hopefully reaching those who are in need of these lessons.