Looking Out

It must be odd

To be a minority

He was saying.

I looked around

And didn't see any.

So I said

Yeah,

It must be.

Mitsuye Yamada

This poem written by a Japanese-American

comments on how some ethnic groups

see themselves as part of main-stream culture,

Yet main-stream culture may still see them as belonging to their former culture

classification:  Social commentary

Here in Virginia, we are unfased by middle-eastern women in head scarves, or foreign accents.

They tell me there are more than 100 countries represented in the high school. I consider myself more acculturated than some but I catch myself doing this:

In class I call the name for attendance, I see their face and expect to hear a reply with accented English. As soon as they speak, I realize this family has been here many generations!