Reading Takaki

After reading Takaki, I thought he brought up a lot of good points.  One being that American History teaches mainly only about European immigration and it's influence on American culture.  Because he is an Asian American, he noticed how little attention was given to Asian Americans in the development of the United States.  I agree that it is an unfair assumption when seeing a person of an obviously different race that they are not from the United States.  Just because someone does not have white skin, light eyes and hair, does not mean that they are any less American.  Textbooks written about American History unfortunately only give little knowledge on any countries other than European countries.  This is really ridiculous, just as Takaki has stated, because people of European descent aren't even the majority.  

When meeting someone from a different culture than yourself in the United States, I think that it is crucial to not place a judgement based on what only your eyes can see.  I must remind myself that the Europeans were not the first to come to America, and they are no more "American" than essentially any other immigrants from around the world. 

I found an excellent quote by Lyndon B. Johnson that I felt fit Takaki's message well: 

"[The United States is] not merely a nation but a nation of nations."