Trust and acceptance are two way streets. When Ellick searched to experience the “ethnic underground” of Jackson Heights, he was ready to trust and accept the people that he encountered but he would have to earn their trust before being accepted by them.
The first thing you notice when you look at a person is their race. In high school I was friends with many of my Asian and Indian classmates. I went to a small high school so instead of small ethnic groups, there was a general dichotomy between the white group (mostly Italian, Irish, and Russian) and the Asian/ Indian group. I guess I was the token white friend in the Asian/Indian group. One Christmas, one of my Asian friends made Christmas cards for our whole group. She had to apologize to one of the Chinese boys because she forgot to make him a card. Directly after she handed me my card. The boy was taken aback. “But she’s not even Asian!” And there you have it. After two years of friendship, my race was used to single me out from the whole group for a trivial reason. Some of my Asian friends gave him fierce looks but I was not offended. It is just a fact of life that he left slip. I was different and would not ever fully be accepted.
While complete trust and acceptance may not be a plausible goal among the cultural groups of New York , harmony and unity are definitely achievable. A prime example is the Calloway Chateau, described by Mehta in his article The Meltingest Pot. The residents in the building have mixed their cultures and abilities into something beautiful. More than just getting along, the residents help each other out when some one has a problem or a sickness, surprise each other with presents and food on holidays, and readily make friends across races. The Calloway Chateau takes on a cordial character of its own as a place where anyone can belong. The dynamic of cultures that exists creates a crazy, but charming quilt and what I would call a diamond in the rough (even in NYC). If a piece was missing, it just would not be the same. In the Calloway Chateau, everybody is personally interested in the well-being of their neighbors, despite their race or culture.
Stephanie Azzopardi
