Eight men consisting of two Latinos, two Asian American, two African American and two Caucasians discuss the issues of race as they eventually come to understand that race is more complex than they think. As these men discuss, it is almost impossible for them not to touch on critical race theories and tenants like stereotypes, false consciousness, passing, whiteness, and discrimination.
David who claims that since everyone is the same, everyone should be treated equally. Unable to accept that this is not the case, the rest of the men demonstrate their frustration with David. David highlights the critical race tenant that everyone is equal; denying that everyone has a complex and compound identity. As he fails to recognize that everyone is not the same, he demonstrates his superiority as a white male, as he has never faced discrimination compared to men like Victor who right off the bat, becomes agitated by David's words and reasoning. Victors reaction stems from seeing David's colorblindness and inability to admit that people, even groups of minorities, are not the same.
Interestingly, interracial discrimination is also brought up as David Lee; the Chinese American, expresses his feelings of uneasiness with African Americans as a result of hearing media sources and even school. Yutaka admits feeling anxious when he was around African Americans, until he realized that what he was doing was irrational. As others later spoke, they admitted that there has been stereotypes and microagressions even with people from their same ethnicity, whom they have not stood up for in previous encounters.
Additionally, at the beginning of the film as everyone is presenting themselves, David Lee addresses himself as an American instead of a Chinese American. He does this followed by an explanation saying that he is tired of people associating him with another ethnicity, since he was born American and raised American. David is a clear example of many second and third generation Asian Americans who have struggled to assimilate into the American culture, because they do not fit the appropriate "whiteness" in order to be considered American. As Asian American immigrated to the U.S., the second and third generational-waves, were "college graduates" and "high educational achievers", yet they were faced with restrictions and limitations upon their arrival, so much that they were forced into low level occupations (Takaki 430, 432). This is why David Lee can proudly say that he is an American, regardless of whether his appearance suggests he's not.
As the rest of the men shared, they too are Americans; born and raised in America, even if they may not want to be associated with Americans. This is where the fine line is drawn though as they cannot fit into the stereotype of an American appearance. As expressed in Recipe, in trying to assimilate into a culture, people try to change themselves as if it was as simple as following a recipe "with[out] crying" (Mirikitani 85). This is why there are people like white David who believe that everyone is the same; not knowing that many have sacrificed their own identities, in order to become white as everyone else. Filipinos for example, describe how they remain strangers. Though they "live like American, eat like American, and dress the same" they continue to be reminded of the fact that they are strangers (Takaki 316). The men's efforts remained focused on the David's idea in helping him understand that many times, whites expect everyone else to come to their side and be the same as they are- yet in Victors words, "we cannot, come over there". It's simply impossible for blacks and whites to have equal treatment in his perspective.
According to a co-cultural theory, people learn and understand things based on their own experiences in being part of a certain ethnic group. This is important for people to understand when discussing race issues. Often times, race fails to be a topic of interest because people fail to recognize that everyone's experiences are valid and uniquely different. In understanding race, it is equally important to acknowledge that we are all racist. At one point or another, we have experienced microagressions and have heard stereotypes and have even fallen in the trap of false consciousness. In order to move forward, this documentary exemplifies the need for communication between groups. Though David was not at fault for thinking the way he did, (based on the racist home he was raised in) once he heard and understood that not everyone has the same opportunities in this country based on white-supremacy, he was able to understand the perspectives that the rest of the men were trying to convey to him.
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