In the first half of Lisa Ko’s The Leavers, the story starts out with a mother named Polly and a son named Deming who later his name changes to Daniel. Daniel’s mother leaves him at a young age where he is faced with a ton of adversity being a minority in the Bronx of New York. Throughout the story Daniel deals with being a minority in instances such as school and the foster care system, Daniel even deals with the stress of migration. He deals with racism, opportunities of feeling like where he doesn’t belong and distance from his mother at times. Which is a problem still in today’s society, Asian-Americans still get discriminated against and deal with racism, one recent instance of this is Asian-Americans and Asians getting racially profiled and blamed due to covid being in those initial countries even though it has nothing to do with their race. Along with the foster care system, there is adversity for people fitting in when being a minority and discrimination of people, ultimately effecting ones mental heath.
In conclusion, it is sad to see that The Leavers is so similar to today’s society. With all these issues Asian-Americans and Asians face. As a society there should be a collective goal to help stop Asian hate so nobody has to have a similar life to Daniel who went through so much being a minority.
Sources:
Hahm, Hyeouk Chris, et al. “Perceived COVID-19-Related Anti-Asian Discrimination Predicts Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Asian and Asian American Young Adults.” Psychiatry Research, vol. 303, Sept. 2021. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114084.
Garland, A. F., et al. “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Service Use among Children in Foster Care.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 25, no. 5/6, 2003, pp. 491–507. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=swh&AN=73291&site=ehost-live.
It is sad that in society Asian-Americans get discriminated and face racism. I could never imagine treating someone the way some people treat Asian-Americans. I agree with you that there should be a societal goal to stop/end Asian hate.
The first section of the book showed many thematic ideas, including migration and cultural identity. This reminds me of a previous concept discussed in class dealing with intersectionality. Having trouble fitting in due to racial and language differences can put stress on someone. I know people who went through a transracial adoption process as well. Some members of my family help their family as they adopted many siblings together.
I agree with your post that many elements that are presented in The Leavers are similar to many issues Asians face in society today. The most recent example of discrimination against Asians is COVID-19 due to the virus’s originality in China. In the book, Daniel must experience this first-hand, growing up in America as an Asian immigrant. Not only that, he must face adversity by going through the foster care system, which only makes his childhood more difficult being a minority.
The reality of Asian hate is extremely disheartening and I believe the root of the problem lies in many of the other social issues we’ve discussed in class, among countless others not covered. While there are many facets in which influence how the individual is molded and how society or themself is perceived, I would argue the hatred exhibited deeply aligns with the idea of Othering – as the Other (and the social standards that follow) is defined variously within a given region where traditional, dominating beliefs tend to reject diversity. This coincides with the Master-Slave relationship, where the power dynamic is severely skewed and the one who holds less power, as a result, feels less secure in their identity.