A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
by: Ronald Takaki
Published by: Back Bay Books
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Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali
A Different Mirror starts with the assertion that race “has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups.” It goes on to argue that this construction does not accurately reflect the “rich and complex mosaic” of American diversity. This book’s objective is therefore to reflect more authentically the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic American character.
The narrative begins with the Viking’s “discovery” of America and proceeds through contemporary times. It devotes chapters of each section to the different experiences of different groups that make up the American population (specifically Natives, Africans, Jews, Irish, Asians, Latinos, and Middle Easterners – interestingly Italian are not adequately covered). Each section reflects carefully on the intertextuality of the separate narratives, and each chapter points out general divergences as well as overlap, coalition, and shared experiences of different groups.
The academic discussion is laced with short quotations, cameos of personal experiences, and excerpts from folk music and literature. Stories are not sugarcoated, which may at times be unsettling, but the underlying research is difficult to refute. The text uses many direct quotes and indirect references making the accounts credible, believable and above all, educational.
Takaki relates his own experiences in the last chapter. It serves as a microcosm for the American immigrant experience, and is the most heartfelt chapter of all.
The subject matter’s breadth necessarily results in less depth. This is particularly felt when discussing the more profoundly transcultural and transracial moments in American history. It also avoids looking at groups in isolation, and misses the diversity within groups. As a result, it seems to confound stereotypes and weave a thread of victimhood among all people it considers, stressing violence and tension rather than coalition and exchange. America’s history needs to be figured as transracial as well as multiracial.
Despite its shortcomings, Takaki’s book effectively conveys the idea that America’s identity embraces people of many different backgrounds. Herein lies the value of multicultural history – a broadening of perspective that helps us live together in the present. The first chapter aptly quotes Herman Melville describing the American fabric: “All nations may claim her for their own. You cannot spill a drop of American blood, without spilling the blood of the whole world.”
Armchair Interviews says: This book is as much sociology as a history lesson for all to learn.
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