Today, we live in a post- 9/11 era where being an American means to be patriotic. But what does it mean to be patriot. Does it mean to agree with our “representatives” and their leadership? Does it mean to sit back and allow the “enlighten” ones to make decisions for our “good?” Ronald Takaki, Cornel West and Elizabeth Martinez take a position in the definition of “American” while presenting the barriers Ethnic Minorities have to face. Three identifiable barriers are ignorance, nationalism and prejudice. Ignorance in America is a barrier Ethnic Minorities face. The ignorance of the other that is born out of dual misinterpretation creates shock of the cultures. The shock of cultures is the wish to inflict one culture on another. It is the desire of authority of the other and this will of power always meets with opposition. Often the source of conflict between people is cultural differences. While the average American learns the history of slavery and the movements following after that, many Americans are ignorant to the history of many other minority groups. Evidently, United State’s political construction is stubborn and self- centered. Since the nation is so emphasized on being the dominant force, many refuse to accept cultures other than the white culture. For example, although the dominant language in the US is Spanish and Portuguese, English is still considered the main language. Ron Takaki reiterates American history through the experiences of the many groups who have been absent from Anglo-centric recordings. For example, he writes about the experiences of Africans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Jews and Latinos. He explains, “America has been racially diverse since our very beginning on the Virginia Shore, and this reality is increasingly becoming visible and ubiquitous.” He says that Americans should face the “fact that we are a multiracial society and that race can no longer be defined in the binary terms of white and black.” Takaki agrees, “sharing of memory, the people in this study offer us an opportunity to see ourselves reflected in a mirror called history.” These ignored experiences gives depth to the viewpoints of the many ethnic groups who make up American History. Takaki’s more unprejudiced and comprehensive approach to history attempts to capture different interpretations of History. Takaki’s perspective is beneficial because it enables people to see their histories through a different mirror. By doing so, Americans may come to realize that America belongs to no single group or race, and that America’s national identity is always being refined and redefined. In other words, there is no set American identity. Racial ignorance is clearly displayed in the film, Bulworth. This political satire is about a U.S. senator who decides to start speaking the truth. Power plays an important role in the movie. Bulworh basically spills his heart out with the truth by saying, “The problem with the twentieth century is the problem of the color line”. He continues explaining the situation the average black American lives in. Where working in “mother burger king ain’t gonna get you anywhere”. This scene was meant to inform the audience the lifestyle that the typical African American live in. Due to ignorance of most Americans, the exposure of an ethnic minority’s lifestyle came to a shock to many of the “white” characters in the film. Bulworth offers us a political discourse that draws the postmodern condition. The movie very creatively reveals the true terror that is in our society: racism, social inequality and ignorance. In Jehmu Greene’s article about the abusive relationship between Chris Brown and Rihanna, she explains, “There is no end to the activists’ displays of outrage when racism is perceived. Yet, the silence is deafening, drowned out only by the hypocrisy and ignorance when the perpetrator is black.” She points out, “The beating Rihanna experienced at the hands of Chris Brown was tragic, but definitely not uncommon. The leading cause of death for African American women ages 15 to 45 is intimate partner homicide.” Society is ignorant to the fact that more black women die in the hands of black men then they do in accidents or illnesses. This racial barrier hurts the lives of many women, especially as Greene points out, black women. There is no cry to actions because, as Greene explains, people choose to stay ignorant to divisions different to their own. Extreme nationalism is another barrier minority groups face. Nationalism is the tendency of recognizing oneself with a single nation or an idea, “placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” Patriotism is essentially about ideas and pride while nationalism is about emotion and blood. Nationalism can leave most people blind to their country’s political flaws. That sort of hyper- nationalism causes major conflicts. However, it can get out of hand, turn into hatred of others and spark violence, often of the most brutal form. That is especially true when leaders of states convince people that the “other” has treated them abusively. The nationalist’s thoughts always turn on conquest or losses. Nationalism is power-hunger intensified by self-deception. History and blood driven nationalism can become viciously racist and fiercely intolerant. Martinez tackles the issue of extreme “white” nationalism by focusing on the black- white model. “Doesn’t the exclusively Black- White framework discourage the perception of common interests among people of color and thus sustain White Supremacy?” asks Martinez. She explains, “The locus of power over our lives has long been white. The oppressed have always survived by becoming experts on the oppressor’s ways.” Extreme white nationalism has oppressed all other ethnic minorities. Not only does the “white” society requires ethnic minorities to melt into the American culture, but also resents them. White Supremacists pride themselves on their culture by excluding others, thus causing barriers for ethnic minorities. The concept of we belong, you do not was very evident in the reality show, 30 days. In the show, an outspoken border-control activist and member of the Laguna Hills-based Minuteman Project spends a month with an undocumented immigrant family in a small one-bedroom apartment. “I wanted someone to represent men and women like myself who are Minutemen, who are nothing more than patriotic American citizens who love people from all walks of life but just want them here legally,” said Jorge, who immigrated from Cuba nearly 50 years ago. Jorge continues to say, “No matter how many Minutemen go to the borders, we can’t kick these people out – but the politicians can.” The show brings together two sides of the immigration debate that has split the nation. When Jorge, who on weekends patrolled the border with a rifle and binoculars, lived with a Mexican family who held political beliefs opposite his own, tension built. Although Jorge calls himself a patriotic American, it is clear he is extremely nationalistic. He is proud of being an American with the exclusion of other minorities, especially illegal immigrants. His extreme nationalism causes him to reject illegal immigrants before even understanding their tough situation. Although he had a change of heart after meeting the family, not many extreme nationalists will have the same opportunity he had. Therefore, nationalism will still be a barrier to many ethnic minorities. The most obvious step for an average citizen to take is to resist adopting ideologies that starkly divide the world into “we versus them” terms or choosing leaders who do so. Meantime, leaders should resist the temptation to support and promote hyper- nationalism ideas. Cornel West in his speech at the University of Florida jokingly admits, “We can’t talk about the white supremacy in black folks – no, no that cuts too deep, and yet it’s there.” He admits, “There’s white supremacy in me.” He says, “The class haughtiness of the bourgeois and upper bourgeois who think that because they tack so quickly somehow that makes them more clever and more wise than the the.. way.. he.. wants to.” Cornel explains that ever since America developed, White Supremacy was dominant. Due to this “white nationalism” other ethnic groups were ignored. It caused the American society to reject anything remotely different from the ideal race. Therefore, ethnic minorities became disconnected from the American culture. Prejudice is yet another barrier that has a way of infecting all Americans. Prejudice is the aggressive attitude toward a person who belongs to a group, simply because she or he belongs to that group. Prejudice is seen as having different foundations, chief among them being different forms of fear. There is an expectation that the other will do harm, create challenges to one’s own and ridicule the generation of fear. Certain factors lead to prejudice; the degree to which a policy has negative consequence for that individual, the quantity of the individual’s previous contact with the group and the individual’s knowledge of the group. The higher these factors are, the more likely the individual will feel threatened and therefore, the more likely she or he will be prejudiced toward members of that group. Cornel West outlines the difficulties of prejudice on minorities. He argues, “As long as black people are viewed as them, the burden falls on black people to do all the cultural and moral work necessary for healthy race relations.” He continues on to say, “White America has been historically weak willed in ensuring racial justice and has continued to resist fully accepting the humanity of blacks.” He explains that race still matters in many aspects of American life. The alienation and ethnic classification people create in their minds lead to prejudice towards minorities. One group starts to hate the other for various reasons, of which most are not acceptable or legitimate reasons. “The Letter”, a documentary that records the fortunes of the Somali community of Lewiston, Maine in 2002-2003 shows clear prejudice within the community. “These third world people multiply like rats,” said one of the resident of Lewiston. Another said, “We should take care of our own before we take care of others.” Even the mayor explained, “American people have and need rights too and these immigrants should not leach on their resources.” Clearly Somali presence in Lewiston, Maine caused the “not in my backyard” consequence. Prejudice made life simpler for the individuals in the community by allowing themselves to categorize people very simply by the asset of their membership in a group. The people in the community made erroneous assumptions about the Somalies because they did not fit into the mold. People in Lewiston tried to simplify problems by using short cuts, primarily involving category-based processes. As is evident from the film, the residents became very hostile towards the Somalis. Their prejudice restrained them from absorbing Somalian culture and thus kept them stuck in their confined culture. Unfortunately, prejudice is not simply an attitude that remains internal to its owner, it also impacts behavior. When negative attitudes on the basis of differences translate into behavior, we have as a result, discrimination and the social inequity it produces, as is evident in the documentary. This generation of fear in the community caused hostile attitude towards the Somalis, thus exerting prejudice. Ronald Takaki, at Sonoma State University, held a discussion about ethnic epistemology. He stated, “There is a master narrative of American History.” He then continued on to say, “The Unites States still keeps the master narrative speech due to marginalized ethnic groups.” This master narrative limits the reader’s diverse exploration of culture. Therefore, society becomes more and more hostile towards ethnic minorities that pose a threat or challenge. This forms into prejudice and usually becomes very dangerous, of which mostly violence is involved. If individuals put a stop to racism and instead have self- respect and hope, all peoples will be equal. Nevertheless, ethnic minorities have visible barriers, of which include ignorance, extreme nationalism and prejudice. These three barriers are interconnected. As Takaki outlined, the understanding of others lead to acceptance. Martinez explained how acceptance leads to coexistence, while West argued that coexistence recognizes the differences in the other. Differences are one of the humankind’s wealth. Just as the films showed, being different does not necessarily imply being better. It simply means that one finds his inner psychic balance in this difference. Leaders and people alike should maintain equality across the country. Although there will always be cultural changes, the masses need to be accepting of all ethnic minorities and disregard any hateful emotions.