5/11 Lowe

           The excerpt “Immigrant Acts, Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity Asian American Differences” by Lisa Lowe, had lots to talk about Asian American experiences in heterogenization, hybridization, and multiplicity. The profound idea she brought up about racial politics was the idea that if politics only focused on race, then it subjects itself to domination. The idea that if we define policies based on cultural identity and race, whether it be accepting or resisting politics, we go back to old forms of domination theories, where race determines superiority. An example of this would be like the Affirmative Action, which some people narrowed their views in accepting it as a racial policy, subject especially some groups of people to its benefits causing others to feel unequal. More blatantly said, it served African Americans and Latin Americans better than it did with Asian Americans. When Asian Americans scope this act down to only based on race, it creates this sense of domination and oppression that Asians feel from the hegemonic system. This supports the theory that if one only looks at politics based on race, one will inevitably single certain “others” out as oppressed and dominated. A counter argument to this theory is the idea of being racially neutral, in other words racially blind. However, by ignoring race in general, one will create generalized theories and actions that do not specifically alleviate the stress of marginalized groups, because it will ignore their history with oppression.