Fred Wah’s biotext, Diamond Grill, captures Wah’s memories of his family and him as he grows up in Nelson, British Columbia. The short stories from his biotext mainly circulates around his father’s restaurant, The Diamond Grill. Instead of only short stories, Wah mixes in recipes and poetries as well to further help demonstrate the journey of searching for his own identity. Wah’s biotext follows his journey of exploring his identity since he is a mixed-race Canadian with the main ethnicities being Swedish and Chinese. Wah’s father, Fred War Sr., married Karin Marie Erickson. Wah’s mother was “shunned by her family for marrying a Chinaman.” (42), which exemplifies the explicit social hierarchy that existed during the time (with the Chinese being a minority). Despite the fact that Wah’s physical appearance is distinctively white, a lot of people still considers him to be Chinese due to his last name being Wah (39).

Wah mentions how “that hyphen is a real problem for multiculturalism; it’s usually a sign of impurity…” (178). Furthermore, he also explains that “race makes you different, nationality makes you the same. Sameness is purity” (36). Even though Wah is part Chinese, eats Chinese food, and is exposed to the Chinese culture, Wah often face an identity crisis since he wants to be considered white  but he iThe factor of multiculturalism is supposed to make society have an open mind and be more diverse, however, that was not the case during Wah’s time.

Although this example is way more extreme, Chinese people were also looked down upon in 1990s Indonesia. An abundant amount of Chinese workers fled to Indonesia looking for jobs and then decided to settle in the country. When Indonesia’s economy was not stable, the Indonesian locals started to blame the ethnic Chinese. It did not matter if an individual was dominantly Indonesian; if they looked Chinese then they were most likely to be hated. The 1998 Indonesian riot was a great deal in Indonesian history, especially to the Chinese living in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. Indonesians violently rioted against the ethnic Chinese. They would burn houses and cars, steal their own boss’ belongings, and even go to the point of killing those who looked to be Chinese. Thousands of Chinese fled Indonesia in concern for their own safety.

The ethnicities that makes up an individual depends on how exposed they are to that ethnicity’s culture. As Chinese-Indonesian, I am personally greatly more exposed to the Chinese traditions and culture (because of my family) despite having lived in Indonesia for sixteen years of my life. I believe that a person will have one ethnic background more dominant compared to the other even if they are exposed to both just as equally.

Works Cited

Wah, Fred. Diamond Grill. Edmonton: NeWest, 2008. Print.