Posts

Posted on

The Importance of Active Inclusion

Growing up at the turn of the 21st century in the United States, I was constantly reminded about the importance of diversity. Cute phrases such as “if we were all the same, life would be so boring” and “people come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors” were ingrained into my head, convincing me of the notion that people, no matter their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or socio economic background had intrinsic value to the betterment of society. However as I grew older, I began to realize that not all people are treated with the same respect, primarily due to the narrow stereotypes that represented the public’s skewed perception of them.

Anand Giridharadas’ novel The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas tells a true story where the perception of Middle Easterners in the United States, following the september 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, was met with hostility, suspicion and fear. This fear stemmed from the lack of understanding of Arab culture in the US, which is due to the representation of it through American media. Depictions of the violent islamic extremists who were responsible for the string of terror attacks in the early 2000’s dominated the news coverage, with little to no address of the majority of middle easterners who had nothing but sympathy for the grieving victims. This lack of accurate representation formed what scholar Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes as a “single story” of not just Arabs, but also those who looked similar to them. Due in part to the absence of active inclusion of Middle East and South Asian culture in American media and schools, countless numbers of brown pigmented people have been victims of fatal hate crimes that have resulted in permanent injury or even death.

Rais Bhuiyan was one of these victims, having been shot while at work at a Dallas convenience store. Fortunately, Bhuiyan did not let the ignorance of his shooter keep him from seeking empathy and understanding. After all, Bhuiyan had fallen victim to the single story misconception, having been raised in Bangladesh, India with the dream of living a prosperous life in the United States, where he was told that all of his dreams would come to fruition. After arriving to America and realizing the harsh inaccuracy of such a perception, Bhuiyan was forced to work menial jobs that he was well over-qualified for.

The importance of proper representation to instill a more informed and egalitarian society is essential. We can all learn from Bhuiyan’s experiences that setting aside one’s judgements before acting is a great way of living a more tolerant and actively aware life.

Bala Sivaraman is a junior at UMass Amherst majoring in communication.

Posted on

The True American Considers Social Justice and Flawed Systems

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.

Posted on

The American Dream Is Simply A Dream

Growing up, the dinner table was always a source of joy and connection with my family. The beautiful aromas of traditional indian cuisine mixed with the detailed recountings of one another’s days created a comforting and care-free atmosphere in my home. Stuffed with food, I often would not be able to finish my plate when my father would say “You must finish! There are starving children in India who would walk miles for the morsel that you are giving up!” “Send this to them!” I’d reply, not understanding the significance of not consuming a bit of food that seemed plentiful. I should mention that I grew up in a suburb of Massachusetts, a small state on the east coast of the United States, which is the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world, filled with overwhelming abundance and prosperity. The quarrel that would ensue between my parents and I at the dinner table led me to think about those hungry children in India, and what dinner time would be like in the rural village of Madurai where my father grew up.

Raised in an underdeveloped region with scarce access to vital resources such as clean drinking water, proper nourishment, and adequate medical facilities, everyday life was a challenge for him and his family. Contrary to my meal time conversations of feeling “too full to ever eat again”, my father recounted many a night huddled close to his siblings and sharing a meal on a large banana leaf, excitedly discussing farfetched plans of moving to America where “there is so much food that you never feel hungry” and “there is so much money that nobody is unhappy”. These claims may seem outlandish and unrealistic to those who have grown up in America, who know that though there is lavish wealth, there is still widespread poverty, hunger, and mental illness that plagues millions of American citizens. However despite the numerous issues that Americans face, the nation’s founding principles of freedom of speech, religion, press etc., though no longer unique to the US, still transcend throughout the globe the image of America as a kind of “promise land” where happiness and affluence are guaranteed.

Similar to my parents’ realizations of the inaccuracy of such an image upon their arrival to the US, Rais Bhuiyan experiences the unfortunate truth that just like anywhere else, life in America entails perseverance, sacrifice, and determination in order to succeed. His unyielding strength in the face of such immense hindrances as his shooting and partial blindness did not deter him from achieving success; in hindsight it was this very injury that led him to embark on a humanitarian mission that has inspired people all around the world to seek empathy and tolerance towards their fellow human beings.

Bala Sivaraman is a junior at UMass Amherst majoring in communication.

Posted on

The Many Stories of a Community

At Umass, you will meet many new people. In fact, you may not know anybody here when you first arrive. There will be thousands of different people with various goals or career intentions and everybody will have a different story, everybody will have something new or unique to bring to this campus. In that, it is clear how The True American aids in entering the formative experience that is college, as we see the detailed timelines that lead to the crossing of paths of Mark Stroman and Rais Bhuiyan, the pivotal moments that alter their futures forever. Fortunately, we will not face the same complications, but incoming freshman will enter a place they hardly know, in order to prepare and learn for the future and, therefore, change their lives.

As people, we embody our story as it has shaped who we are. While college also shapes people, one does not forget who they are or their origins; college is just another part of the story. Rais Bhuiyan came to the United States for the first time to live and work here for a period, hardly knowing anybody, and being unfamiliar with the culture aside from what he had seen on television. Umass Amherst is not quite as large as the United States, but there are connections to be made here. There will be an amazing spectrum of backgrounds among the Umass class of 2019 and such eye-opening experiences are important as it is necessary to embrace inclusion and understanding. Not all incoming freshman will be from the Greater Boston area, not all students will be from America, but they will all be equals, who are hard-working, and aim to achieve. There are resources and support for ever struggle and community on a large scale and for every niche.

While Rais’s story is significantly more palatable and perhaps relatable, in the sense of overcoming challenges or stepping into a new life, one cannot forget Mark Stroman.Whether you forgive him or not, believe he changed or not, his background story is worth noting in the context of a world that could always be improved. It is imperative to understand that not all background stories are refined. However, that does not mean that all are locked into becoming a product of their upbringing, especially at college there is room to grow and opportunities abound. Empathy and understanding are crucial in an environment with people from all walks of life. Rais understood this and has incorporated empathy, understanding, and forgiveness into the message of his nonprofit, World Without Hate.

Regardless of each student’s story, we are all coming together as people who wish to progress and contribute our knowledge to society. Students may even move forward to work to resolve the issues that have filled the stories of some with obstacles. There is much to be taken away from The True American: reflections on social justice, embracing diversity, meeting hurtful acts with understanding and forgiveness while also standing up for what is right, and incorporating such values into society. With all of this in our minds, we can all hope to be better equipped to  accept, engage with, and support the many new people we meet in a way that recognizes the originality of each person’s story.

Written by Daniel Beckley, a senior at Umass Amherst, studying English, Communication, and Public Policy.

Posted on

Guest Post: Stories

Reading The True American made me think a lot about stories. Stories are powerful. Stories determine how we think about the world. Stories can challenge stereotypes and bring depth to flat assumptions that we make about others. I sometimes think that the most fundamental core of human connection is internalizing the reality that each person carries with them a lifetime of stories that have made them who they are. Upon hearing and understanding another person’s story, we often find that we have much in common with them and are more likely to empathize with their life narratives. At the other end of the spectrum, refusing to acknowledge people’s stories allows us to demonize and dehumanize them.

 

I wondered, while I was reading The True American, how Mark Stroman would have approached Rais Bhuiyan during their first interaction if he knew Rais’s story, or even the stories of people in similar situations. If Mark knew about Rais’s gentle personality, his closeness with his family, and how much work it took for Rais to make it to the United States, would he have walked into that convenience store and seen an enemy? If Mark understood the depth of Rais’s spiritual beliefs, the hurdles he was overcoming in a brand new country, and the fear that he experienced on a regular basis, would he have been able to shoot Rais in cold blood? I doubt he would have, because Mark would have seen pieces of himself in Rais’s story.

 

As we continue to move into a world where social justice issues are becoming more salient, I think it is important to remember that all people’s lives are comprised of stories that influence thoughts and actions. The more triumphant stories make us feel victorious. The tragic stories can damage us. Some stories, such as Rais and Mark’s, require us to look deep inside and make hard decisions about our values and behavior. Reading The True American made me ask what stories about myself most people do not know. It made me imagine what types of stories about others I don’t know. I thought about times when I labeled people unfairly and eventually learned in their stories that I was completely wrong in my assumptions.
As you read The True American, I hope you will think about stories in your own lives and remember that all of us have many to tell.

 

Adam Ortiz is a Residential Learning Communities Specialist at UMass Amherst.

Posted on

The Cathartic Power of Forgiveness

What does it mean to forgive? To accept someone’s apology, to rectify any harmful sentiments made to them, or to exonerate one’s wrongdoing? Forgiveness can be expressed in various ways, each with varying levels of sincerity and intent. Children are taught to “forgive and forget” in order to move passed a disagreement, however this kind of practice as a form of conflict resolution is relatively ineffective when employed to prevent future disputes. Rather than forgetting, it is best to make an effort to understand the motivations behind one’s acts. By setting aside anger and frustration for investigation, one can empathize with another and even relate to him or her. This is the path that Rais follows after being shot by Mark Stroman, and his journey of forgiveness and understanding leads him to becoming connected with Stroman in numerous unprecedented ways.

Rais’ initial reaction after being injured was one of confusion. He simply could not fathom why he had been hurt, only to soon come to the realization that he was just one of the victims of a shooting spree at the hands of an angry and fearful man. Though his shooter was portrayed as a monstrous, racist fiend, Rais did not let this public perception deter him from learning about the troubled man behind such heinous actions. Learning about Stroman’s difficult childhood of being neglected by his mother, who told him repeatedly that he would have been aborted if she could have afforded the operation, Rais began to understand how such a lack of parental support led to Stroman’s turn to crime as a means of deriving attention and worth.

Without positive role models to aspire to, Stroman found himself abusing drugs and burglarizing at an early age, only to be sent to prison, where his solitary confinement did nothing but fester his emotional issues. Rais, having grown up in a loving family and attending a highly regimented military school in Bangladesh, did not develop in the same environment as his shooter. However what the both of these men have in common is a strong sense of loneliness; Stroman has no healthy familial connections, and Rais is left to fend for himself in a completely foreign country. Such autonomy often fosters a sense of worthlessness due to the failure to find a group of people to connect with. Rais’ utilized this common experience with Stroman to unearth the scared, insecure, and unloved man who desperately needed an ally to save his emotional wellbeing. Through his campaign to get Stroman off of his death row sentence, Rais became the ally Stroman needed, and it is because of his forgiveness that Stroman denounced his actions as the product of hate and intolerance, urging humanity to seek understanding in each other above all else.

– Bala Sivaraman is a junior at UMass Amherst majoring in communications.

Posted on

Rais Bhuiyan Talks About Mark Stroman’s Childhood

True American addresses poverty and family as being significant factors in determining the development of a child. In the book, Anand Giridharadas considers an array of people and how their experiences shaped who they became and contributed or were detrimental to their ability to succeed.

Watch Rais Bhuiyan discuss Mark Stroman’s childhood in a video from the Texas After Violence Project, a human rights organization that researches, documents, and discusses the death penalty.

Posted on

True American Sheds Light on Critical Topics

As a college student, you will be introduced to an environment where additional questions can always be asked and more knowledge may always be sought. The world is indeed a place where one may find more questions than answers, one where discovery and enlightenment are prized. College may shape you to be a beacon in a sea of inquiries. In this developmental experience True American stands as an exceptional example of digging deep to the roots of potential answers and providing insight to the questions society asks. Anand Giridharadas applies incredible journalistic skill and research to identify even the smallest, yet still significant details in order to piece together a nonfiction book that reads like a full-length tale with an omniscient narrator because of his dedication to uncovering every detail. Giridharadas leads us through questions of human rights and American values. He outlines root issues that are not addressed often enough, such as poverty and health care, despite these being issues that when left unaddressed may bring about the kind of stories that flood mass media. These prevalent themes in the book, among many other topics mentioned (diversity, forgiveness, the American Dream, and still more) may do their part in damaging or aiding a society, specifically the “hurting” nation of America, as Giridharadas once called it. However, such issues faced in America in the book affect societies internationally and are ones that the world seeks resolutions for, meaning the world needs driven, educated people to provide answers.

True American covers the trial of Mark Stroman, concerning whether or not the state of Texas should put him to death. In this there is telling of contrasting perspectives on the death penalty, ranging from the prosecutor comparing Stroman to a cancer to society that must be removed to Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a victim of Stroman who believes in forgiveness and stands by the idea that execution will solve nothing. Mark Stroman’s attacks of hate have light shed on them in the book, which reveals how one may grow to become a bigoted killer. Many had claimed that nothing would have altered the way this man came to be and that nothing could change him in the future. However, the story of Mark Stroman’s life uncovers holes in the way society deals with poverty, addicts, and criminals, issues that are thoroughly considered throughout the book. A psychologist’s statement in the trials marks a pivotal moment in the book regarding the reader’s viewing of the behavior of Stroman as being affected heavily by his past. In this way, Anand’s writing is especially cohesive in its explication, showing how one issue may grow from another.

From the image of an America that is “hurting” we see the American Dream that for many has been depleted, which once was an idea of opportunity and achievement that is represented as being made particularly possible in this nation. This is the lens Rais Bhuiyan had seen America through while growing up in Bangladesh. However, upon moving to Dallas he saw that aspects of American society are suffering. Mark Stroman was a product of that. The book effectively traces each person’s present mindset to some origin, telling the details necessary to understand the movement from point A to point B, the kind of details necessary to understanding how an issue came about and where the problem lies. Giridharadas covers the themes of this book from top to bottom.

True American deals substantially with hot button issues with some such as poverty and ignorance being prominent throughout human history. Even the uncontroversial themes become emotionally charged and politicized like the importance of family and forgiveness. We see family being a focal point in the development of the characters, with the impoverished, addiction-riddled family of Mark Stroman being toxic and, also, we see forgiveness, which for Rais is rooted in his faith, as a crucial value and utilized to oppose the death penalty. Furthermore, things such as the value of diversity and understanding are demonstrated, considering the important role we see Rais play in helping people and the inspiring change in character of Mark. This web of themes presents a powerful message, which identifies problems that many face and shows that people can change and people can create change. By means of these overarching ideas, the reader is brought to consider major topics that may positively or negatively affect society and is benefited with the ability to bring these thoughts to the campus community and the world.

Written by Daniel Beckley, a senior at Umass Amherst, studying English, Communication, and Public Policy.

Posted on

Entering the Discussion with True American

One of the goals of the UMass Common Read program has consistently been to provide a scenario for asking questions and considering topics that are relevant in the current times.This year’s common read selection, True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas by Anand Giridharadas, draws on weighted questions, growing from the intersection of two contrasting lives. Destiny, the value of life, and the role of government are only a few of the topics this detailed story mulls over. These are questions the reader, too, will have to engage, questions that will aid in delving into the many academic dialogues occurring around the university and in the world today.

This journey of question, ideologies, and passion follows Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a disciplined, kind-hearted man from Bangladesh and Mark Stroman, a bigoted criminal from Texas. The profundity of each character’s philosophy pushes them both to extreme measures; Stroman attempting to murder Bhuiyan in a one-man “war” that was fueled by hate and ignorance and Raisuddin following this with a campaign to prevent the execution of Mark Stroman. Anand Giridharadas’s attention to detail and commitment to following the story to its deepest roots contributes to its power as a study of character and what shapes the values of a person. These stories examine the evolution of Bhuiyan and Stroman, the factors that developed them, and the moments that opened their minds, with Raisuddin realizing information technology as an occupation was not enough and that he wanted to also wanted to make it his duty to help people and Mark realizing the various errors of his ways of thinking.

From the beginning of the book we see the carefully investigated, precisely narrated stepping stones of a path to an event that altered these two lives permanently. Certainly many questions arise following a hate crime that places the perpetrator on death row and almost fatally wounds the other. However, these questions reach far beyond whether the capital punishment is cruel and unusual and also addresses questions surrounding this focal point, such as what makes one an American? What drives a person to hate? What root issues are countries ignoring that cause the larger problems that the public is talking about? Such questions are often answered with misconceptions and are worth discussing in-depth.

Such drastic changes in character on paths of a lifestyle that is newly founded upon beautiful revelations about the world around us may easily be relatable to the formative college experience. Knowledge and experience outside of the lives we grew up building allow for expansion and achievement. Raisuddin Bhuiyan, though always thoughtful and having a desire to help, had been dead set on a career in IT, having established great self-discipline in his early years. However, experience in a foreign place led him to view the world differently. America was not exactly the land of freedom and opportunity for all that television had portrayed. There is always room for growth and change. Freshman, bound on a journey for grand things, will have the chance to view the world with new eyes, structure their path, and perhaps grow to change the world. True American takes on issues often pushed away from conversation, being considered either taboo or controversial, but it uses the difficult topics as a means for identifying the good and moral values remaining in the world and the potential for positive change.

Written by Daniel Beckley, a senior at Umass Amherst, studying English, Communication, and Public Policy.