Being brown

Questions :

A. 1) There are two women on the book cover. The one on the left wears a tank top and jeans, while the other one is wearing a traditional indian dress. Both are women of colour.

2) Being brown is about inequalities between people of colour and white people.

C. 1) Priya is a cultivated upper class girl who seems to be preoccupied by the gaps between people of colour and white people. She was born in Chicago, but since her parents are Indian, her skin is brown.

2) Priya blames her parents for having moved to America years ago. She states that she would have preferred to live in India, because in America, people of colour aren’t treated well. According to her, people in India are more respectful towards each other since everyone has the same skin colour.

3) Priya claims that American values are only giving advantages to white people, while Indian values are egalitarian.

4) Priya’s father disagrees with her point of view. He doesn’t take her seriously, laughs and belittles her. Her mother doesn’t really care about what she says, she just asks her to watch a movie and suggests her to take care of her physical appearance.

5) I think she will, and she will be satisfied at first, but I think she will be disappointed once she understands that there are a lot of inequalities in India, like the gap between poor and rich people.

Priya dislikes living in America, she thinks it is a land of inequalities. She praises Indian values that seem better according to her. Her father disagrees with her, he praises American values, and seems to be happy with all the comfort he could get in the United States.

Both sides have positive and negative aspects. First, about Priya’s point of view. She is right when she says that America treats white people better. It is more difficult to live in the United States when you are a person of colour, you are not always being treated well. Though, I disagree with her opinion on brown countries. People there have their own unique traditions, of course, and they are proud of them. Skin colour is not the centre of inequalities in these countries, the problem would be more about the gaps between social classes. Millions of people live in slums and shanty towns in these countries (like in Dharavi, in India) where poor people don’t have access to running water and live in shacks made of junk, while rich people make money out of tourism for example. Also, Priya doesn’t seem to know about the status of women in India, how they are treated (child marriage for example).

Priya’s father seems to enjoy living in America. That’s understandable since he is very wealthy. I disagree with a part of his view, because he thinks only about his own comfort. Because of his wealth, he doesn’t have much problems, so he doesn’t show compassion for people who experience difficulties. Though, I agree when he says to his daughter to visit India. As an older man, he has an experience, he knows how it is like to live in India. This is probably why he moved to America. I wonder if Priya’s opinion would change if she went to India.

I would say that I feel closer to Priya’s father since he once lived in India and knows how it is like to live there. I do not agree with everything he says though.

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