Bicultural Identity in David Hwang’s FOB and Yellow Face (Published)
David Henry Hwang (1957- ) is a Chinese American playwright who uses political satirical set up to portray racial identity. Hwang’s parents are both Chinese-born; they immigrated to the United States before they met there and got married. In spite of the fact that Hwang – in a number of interviews – describes his Chinese American childhood as free of any racial issues, he is known in his works for his inquiry into identity and the concept of belonging. Hwang reveals his awareness of racial stereotypes in relation to the common perception of Asians and Asian Americans, and he admits experiencing racism when he first went to New York City. His plays usually centre on complex characters and depict their experiences with racism, imperialism, discrimination or generational differences, FOB (1980) and Yellow Face (2007) are outstanding examples. Asian characters that have been presented in theatre in Europe since the nineteenth century were played by white actors, like in The Queen of China Town (1899) by Joseph Jarrow and Madame Butterfly (1900) by David Belasco. As a result Asian American playwrights wrote a number of plays depicting discriminatory casting of characters, like David Hwang’s Yellow Face, premiered in Los Angeles in May, 2007, and Lloyd Suh’s Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (2015).
Keywords: Discrimination, Immigrants, Stereotype, bicultural, race
Symbolism and Race in Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman (Published)
Theatre is one of the means by which different cultures both proclaim and question themselves.It is constantly connected with the broad forces of insurrection and rituals in different societies. Starting from the beginning of the previous century theatre has developed as a practice with which to rethink gender, violence, ethnicity, identity and arts. Racial thinking and modern stage interact to reset an understanding of race and turn individual experiences into art. Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman (1964) is the study of a culture of white supremacy that has historically marginalized all other races, presenting some possible consequences. In an attempt to combat the deep rooted problem of racial discrimination in the American society, Baraka tries to examine and analyze the psyche behind it.
Keywords: Culture, Discrimination, Violence, race
Class Discrimination under the Impact of Transgression in ‘The White Tiger’ By Aravind Adiga (Published)
This further study on Aravind Adiga’s “The White Tiger” pivots round the class discrimination that hints the transgression of the protagonist, Balram Halwai, as well as his corrupted masters. It robustly delineates on the protagonist who was brought up in a remote village of Bihar that is often called as the ‘Darkness’ -a place without the light of educations and modern privileges. Balram narrates the ‘ins and outs’ of his adventurous life through a letter to a foreign luminary- Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime-Minister, on his stopover to Bangalore as an official task that upholds the facts of poverty, the evil of the feudal landlords and the miseries of the subaltern people of India. Adiga’s approach to picture the 20th Century India, has successfully been put into practice by the paroxysms of social injuries in several corners.
Keywords: Cast, Discrimination, Entrepreneurship, Poverty, Transgression, Vicissitude
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION (Published)
The historical and sociological literature portrays the agony of African Americans who have been and are still victimized by discrimination in the workplace. They particularly face a series of unique problems from the policies and the practices of the organizations or from the actions of the individuals. African American women and several minorities were not allowed to participate in most of the desirable jobs and institutions for decades. Even though this is declared unconstitutional, the discrimination against women and minority groups often persisted. But some work organizations are making progress in their efforts to fight against discrimination. Problems are imposed on the African Americans through the complex interactions of racially motivated negative attitudes. They face employment process biases, push into minority positions, lack of access to network and mentors, difficulties in advancement and promotion, and psychological and emotional maltreatment. For African American males especially, employment discrimination patterns are found. For them, employment had become tough in many sectors from 1970’s to 1990’s, as per Burstein (1985). Studies have found that college- educated African Americans have more difficulty than their Caucasian counterparts in securing employment. Discrimination and stereotypes in education discouraged many from obtaining credentials and skills to get good jobs; the higher the position, the higher the level of discrimination against the African Americans. The employers believed that young African American men were lazy, did not want to work, were immoral, and were not as smart as Caucasian youth. Even if they were employed by chance, they did not receive enough organizational support, had less intrinsic authority, and did not have proper channels of communication and less opportunities of promotion.
Women have to encounter both sexual and racial harassment in the workplace, which involved verbal abuse, epithets, threats, slurs, derogatory comments and unwelcome remarks. This compels them to leave a workplace culture they perceived to be negative and oppressive. They respond to workplace discrimination and racial harassment with anger, rage, hostility, resentment, bitterness and aggression. They often have to face the displacement of feelings of frustration of their husbands. North America’s history of discrimination against African Americans suggests that justice demands effective policies to protect them from human right abuses. Continuation of discrimination and inequalities in work organizations perpetuate a system of injustice and social stratification characterized by imbalance of power and resources. This is a reality of economic, political and social constraint. There is a need for understanding African American experiences in the workplace. The research is essentially an overview of major African American workplace problems that needs to be addressed for an inclusive and diverse workplace. The research will address (a) organizational, individual and structural sources of African American discrimination in the workplace; (b) workplace discrimination, the Affirmative Action controversy, racism and human rights violations of African Americans; and (c) organizational and governmental strategies in response to workplace discriminatory practices.
Keywords: African Americans, Discrimination, Workplace