As much as The True American is a study of character, it is also an analysis of issues that have seen much debate and the way they are approached. Along with having amazing stories, Mark Stroman and Rais Bhuiyan function as mediums for bringing social justice issues and political controversies into the discussion. The book, though professionally journalistic in research and presentation, directly engages in the arguments over some issues. Tension can be felt everywhere, there is tugging from all sides in terms of some of the more political debates, making it apparent that these are critical and pressing issues. The True American takes on capital punishment, bigotry, poverty, and the problematic justice system, emphasizing suffering brought on by them and essentially serves as a call to take a stance and do the right thing.
Rais Bhuiyan, a Muslim from Bangladesh, travelled to America to work hard and follow his dreams of working for big companies and starting a family, pursuits that line up perfectly with what many would call the American way of life. However, he was not merely discriminated against because of his appearance or religion, but attacked because of these things. This event demands attention be drawn to the concept that American society is, perhaps, not as accepting as it presents itself to the world, that much more could be done in terms of social justice and open-mindedness. Branching off of this, we see Mark Stroman’s development into a bigoted criminal and that, while he must take responsibility for the attacks he carried out, there are problems with societal attitudes and holes in the system that allowed him to slide by and reach the point he did.
Despite growing up poor in a broken home and having an extensive criminal record, there was little intervention or attempt at reforming Stroman’s character. With an eighth grade education and two of his prison stints cut short for reasons completely external to him, Stroman was still wrong in his actions, but the system had failed him. In this we see that the justice system failed to rehabilitate him, he was not given the education that he needed, and not provided with any opportunity to grow out of the environment that he was a product of. 30 years of this type of life is bound to yield bad, even dangerous, results and it did. Mark Stroman was a drug-addled racist, whose bigotry can be seen as fueled from his environment and lack of education, as we see evidence that he knew nothing about Arabs or Islam, considering his intended victims were Arabs, but none of his victims had origins in the Arab world and not all of them were Muslim. This makes it clear how unfounded Islamophobia, that it is based in a lack of understanding and fear. It was not until Mark Stroman used his last prison sentence to reflect on his life, read, and was able to meet enlightened individuals that he was able to grow more accepting and understanding.
Anand Giridharadas details profound philosophies and heart-warming stories. However, he does not let these distract from the crucial political issues this book deals with. He delves directly to the roots of problems in America, xenophobia, a broken justice system, an education system that could be much stronger and more influential, among other things. The real people that are described in this book stand as evidence and give these arguments teeth, making The True American a gripping, eye-opening story.
Written by Daniel Beckley, a senior at Umass Amherst, studying English, Communication, and Public Policy.