MOLECULAR COMPOSITION OF THE COLOR YELLOW
VALERIE WU
Question:
How does the composition of one’s skin color lead to feelings of cultural displacement?
Hypothesis:
If a Chinese-American female student is placed in a high school context as an ethnic minority, then she will ultimately begin to question her own cultural identity as a response to an inability to adapt.
Introduction:
According to a study published by the Migration Policy Institute [1], Chinese-Americans are the third-largest foreign-born group in the United States. The immigration of Chinese-Americans had its start in the 1850s, with political and social turmoil at high levels back home. It was in 1890 when the influx of Chinese immigration reached high levels. The Chinese Exclusion Act was established in 1882. It wasn’t until the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, legalizing migration for non-European immigrants, that the Chinese population in the United States soared once again. Thirty-one percent of Chinese immigrants have settled in California, though their second-generation children have faced many difficulties in adapting to their environment in the midst of cultural conflict. The objective of our experiment was to determine the impact of this sense of displacement in a Chinese-American female student–the offspring of two first-generation immigrants– in a small-scale simulation of American society.
Experimental Design:
In order to test our hypothesis, we placed a Chinese-American girl into the setting of a predominantly Caucasian high school in San Jose, California. Through observing her interactions with her peers, teachers, and environment, as well as primary source documents, qualitative data was gathered on the effects on her skin color (yellow) on her mutual relationship with her culture.
Data:
1) We observed the Chinese-American girl in her English class.
Subject raised a hand to answer her question. Teacher noticed, said, “Oh, we have a new student from China. Let’s welcome her, everyone.”
2) We interviewed the subject in her standard mathematics class. We caught a glimpse of her most recent test score (38/50, C - average). A classmate whispered, “I thought Asians were supposed to be smart.”
Subject was shown to be sobbing heavily. “I don’t know–why I’m just not good at math. I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be, aren’t I?”
3) We studied the subject’s APUSH textbook. We found one chapter on Mao Zedong (pg. 57) and the Cultural Revolution in China (pg. 58).
4) The following entry was taken from the subject’s journal in her Honors Chemistry class, dated one week after the interview. A gradual awareness of racial heritage in the subject was observed in this segment.
We learned about resonance structures today. Sometimes, covalent compounds could have more than one form. The atoms would bond, react, and create the same product–a little bit like art, in that we’d look at art from different angles and perceive different meanings. Carbon was always the central atom. Sometimes it’d form double bonds, triple bonds. Every element wanted to be a noble gas. I wanted to be a noble gas. If I formed enough bonds, maybe–
But when you mixed the color yellow with white, yellow was still yellow. When I looked at my Asian-American community, I saw that we were bonded by language, culture, identity–but they weren’t shared equally. X didn’t always equal y. The charges didn't cancel. Ethnicity was polar. Maybe I had more than one form, but for now, I only saw this one–this one where my skin color was yellow, and I had small eyes. I’d always be searching for more electrons, but never finding them. There’s no resonance structure for skin color.
Discussion:
From our results, we analyzed that our hypothesis was supported. Not only did the subject reveal an inability to adapt to her environment, symptoms of cultural confusion were also recognized. As the subject stated, “they weren’t shared equally,” referring to the themes of language, culture, and identity.
These results were expected placed into context with the given historical background. A potential research question we would have for the future is: what if we placed the Chinese-American student at home, speaking Mandarin Chinese? How would that affect her sense of cultural displacement? What would be the definition of home for the second-generation children of Chinese immigrants?
Conclusion:
The composition of one’s skin color has an inevitable impact towards one’s assimilation to American society.
References:
[1] - “Chinese Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 5 Feb. 2015.
How does the composition of one’s skin color lead to feelings of cultural displacement?
Hypothesis:
If a Chinese-American female student is placed in a high school context as an ethnic minority, then she will ultimately begin to question her own cultural identity as a response to an inability to adapt.
Introduction:
According to a study published by the Migration Policy Institute [1], Chinese-Americans are the third-largest foreign-born group in the United States. The immigration of Chinese-Americans had its start in the 1850s, with political and social turmoil at high levels back home. It was in 1890 when the influx of Chinese immigration reached high levels. The Chinese Exclusion Act was established in 1882. It wasn’t until the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, legalizing migration for non-European immigrants, that the Chinese population in the United States soared once again. Thirty-one percent of Chinese immigrants have settled in California, though their second-generation children have faced many difficulties in adapting to their environment in the midst of cultural conflict. The objective of our experiment was to determine the impact of this sense of displacement in a Chinese-American female student–the offspring of two first-generation immigrants– in a small-scale simulation of American society.
Experimental Design:
In order to test our hypothesis, we placed a Chinese-American girl into the setting of a predominantly Caucasian high school in San Jose, California. Through observing her interactions with her peers, teachers, and environment, as well as primary source documents, qualitative data was gathered on the effects on her skin color (yellow) on her mutual relationship with her culture.
Data:
1) We observed the Chinese-American girl in her English class.
Subject raised a hand to answer her question. Teacher noticed, said, “Oh, we have a new student from China. Let’s welcome her, everyone.”
2) We interviewed the subject in her standard mathematics class. We caught a glimpse of her most recent test score (38/50, C - average). A classmate whispered, “I thought Asians were supposed to be smart.”
Subject was shown to be sobbing heavily. “I don’t know–why I’m just not good at math. I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be, aren’t I?”
3) We studied the subject’s APUSH textbook. We found one chapter on Mao Zedong (pg. 57) and the Cultural Revolution in China (pg. 58).
4) The following entry was taken from the subject’s journal in her Honors Chemistry class, dated one week after the interview. A gradual awareness of racial heritage in the subject was observed in this segment.
We learned about resonance structures today. Sometimes, covalent compounds could have more than one form. The atoms would bond, react, and create the same product–a little bit like art, in that we’d look at art from different angles and perceive different meanings. Carbon was always the central atom. Sometimes it’d form double bonds, triple bonds. Every element wanted to be a noble gas. I wanted to be a noble gas. If I formed enough bonds, maybe–
But when you mixed the color yellow with white, yellow was still yellow. When I looked at my Asian-American community, I saw that we were bonded by language, culture, identity–but they weren’t shared equally. X didn’t always equal y. The charges didn't cancel. Ethnicity was polar. Maybe I had more than one form, but for now, I only saw this one–this one where my skin color was yellow, and I had small eyes. I’d always be searching for more electrons, but never finding them. There’s no resonance structure for skin color.
Discussion:
From our results, we analyzed that our hypothesis was supported. Not only did the subject reveal an inability to adapt to her environment, symptoms of cultural confusion were also recognized. As the subject stated, “they weren’t shared equally,” referring to the themes of language, culture, and identity.
These results were expected placed into context with the given historical background. A potential research question we would have for the future is: what if we placed the Chinese-American student at home, speaking Mandarin Chinese? How would that affect her sense of cultural displacement? What would be the definition of home for the second-generation children of Chinese immigrants?
Conclusion:
The composition of one’s skin color has an inevitable impact towards one’s assimilation to American society.
References:
[1] - “Chinese Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 5 Feb. 2015.
VALERIE WU is a high school sophomore in California who aspires to work in the Foreign Service. She has previously studied writing at Stanford University's pre-collegiate program and Interlochen Center for the Arts, as well as conducted research for Questioz: The International Journal for High School Research. Her work has been featured and/or recognized by Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the Huffington Post, Teen Ink, and various local publications.
