lucia’s Reviews > The Good Immigrant > Status Update

« One was that I could not change some of my peers’ perceptions of black people merely by being as hardworking and as agreeable as possible; I became the exception that proved their rule »

this book is definitely getting a 2 stars once i finish it. i feel like a high school teacher reading through her students first pieces of writing while also feeling like a racist white maga man for some reason.?? yes, we get it : we're ethnic minority therefore life's unfair because there's not enough representation and inclusivity and white people are evil, there's more to the immigrant experience that ALWAYS this

« It would take another couple of decades of fighting regressive stereotypes until black characters could be afforded the same kind of complexity, humanity and sometimes downright mundanity that depictions of white male characters had enjoyed for centuries. »

« It’s not uncommon for black women not to have learned how to care for their natural hair until well into adulthood. Instead, we learn that Afro hair is difficult and that it doesn’t grow. We learn that it looks unprofessional and that it will prevent us from getting jobs. So what can we black women do? Well, we straighten it and cut it and cover it and we pretend that it is not our problem. »