A tale of two Americas

I watched the TED Talk, "A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided," delivered by Anand Giridharadas. In his talk, Giridharadas explains the concept of having two different "Americas" within the same United States. The first "America" is that of native-born citizens who have lived in the country for many generations. Despite being exposed to the opportunities and dreams that are fundamental to the American experience for so many years, this "America" tends to not capitalize on the chances that they have been given. In contrast, the other "America,"  of immigrants and "first-generationers" to this country, have a mindset that is determined to take advantage of every opportunity they are given: true to form of the American dream. 

At a Dallas mini-mart, Giridharadas explains how these two "Americas" came together one day, shortly after 9/11. A lower class white male, cultivated by a society of white supremacy and whose chaotic family had lived in the United States for many years, walked in to a mini-mart carrying a shot gun. The store clerk, a Bangladeshi immigrant to the United States, thought he was being robbed, but was met by an alternate reality. The white male asked the store clerk, "where are you from?" Before the store clerk could make sense of the situation, the white male fired his gun at him. Long story short, the store clerk survived. Despite losing his fiance and job, as well as accumulating an abundance of medical debt, the store clerk beat the odds, got an education, and went on to make a six-figure salary in telemarketing. 

The beauty of this story lies within the store clerk's capacity for resilience. As the white male awaited his end on death row, the store clerk fought to defend his attacker's life. The store clerk registered, through faith and his own experiences, that the "America" his attacker came from had ultimately failed him. While the store clerk had been brought up with a clear sense of values and ambition for his life, the white male was brought up in a society plagued by addiction, violence, and racism. In essence, the store clerk realized that his "America" was starkly different from his attacker's, and the trend would continue if he did not do something about it. 

Giridharadas takes special use of ethos, logos, and pathos in delivering his story to his audience. The elaborate story of the store clerk and the white male contribute to Giridharadas' credibility by providing the audience with a real-life story with which they can relate to and better understand the reality that Giridharadas is attempting to shed light on. Giridharadas' argument is further supplemented by his use of organization and a logical approach to his story. Giridharadas does a great job of telling the story in chronological order and explaining the motives behind the store clerk's change of heart to forgive and fight for his attacker. 

Nonetheless, Giridharadas shares a similar immigrant background to the store clerk and thus his perspective his biased in favor of the immigrant "America" over the native-born one. 

Lastly, Giridharadas often turns to pathos to build on and gain support for his argument, through both words and images. Giridharadas' powerful anecdote exemplifies the fundamental nature of humanism and the remarkable ability of people to forgive one another. These concepts bring his audience together, despite their personal backgrounds and perspectives, as one collective human spirit. The images of both the store clerk and the white male bring his story to life and allow the audience to relate on a more personal level. 

For me personally, I chose this TED Talk because it is very relatable to my life in a number of ways. To start, I share the perspective of the second "America" that Giridharadas describes. I am the son of an immigrant to the United States and have been influenced by my father's belief in the American dream, that anything is possible in this country with hardwork and determination. My background, however, becomes even more interesting in that my mother belongs to the first "America," of native-born people who have lived here for many generations. I have personally witnessed how the American dream is not as visible to the first "America," that is my mother's side.  

Because most of my mother's family has been content with the circumstances of their life, they have had no motivation to change their lives for the better. Comparatively, my father's family has thrived and excelled past my mother's family in just forty years of being in this country. The irony of this is truly demonstrated by history. My father was born in a dirt-floor home in southern India. When him and his family came to Canada in 1972, they had virtually nothing. My dad himself was a store clerk at a convenience store at the early age of 12, and has worked a job ever since. Though they lived in government housing and below the poverty line, my father and his siblings were driven by the ambition to prosper and survive in this new country, despite the adversity that they faced.  

Meanwhile, my mother grew up in Charlotte and Hickory, North Carolina. Her family was rather well-off and my mother didn't work a job until high school, when she wanted to make some extra cash. Though her immediate family was accepting of diversity, her extended family, nurtured by an uneducated society, has roots of racism and unfair bias against others. Just like Giridharadas describes two "Americas" coming together in a Dallas mini-mart (my hometown), the marriage of my mother and father is, to some extent, another example of these two "Americas" coming together. 

Moreover, the experience of the store clerk being questioned about his roots by his attacker is yet another relatable aspect of the story to me. In October 2001, just a few weeks after the store clerk in Giridharadas' TED Talk was shot, my father faced a similar, yet less violent, encounter. While waiting in the checkout line of a Home Depot, a cashier shouted at my father the same exact question that Giridharadas' store clerk was asked: "where are you from?" The questioner, fueled by fear and ignorance, seemed to be under the impression that my father was Muslim and of Arab descent. Though her implications were completely erroneous, the experience has had a lasting impact on both my father, and now me.