Mehta, Berger, and Ellick all portray the diversity of the outer boroughs in their own ways. As an immigrant living in the heart of Flushing, I can relate to many points these three authors make in their articles. Although my own apartment building comes nothing close to the Calloway Château, it is similar in that all the tenants know a little bit about everyone living there. Although most of the tenants are Chinese or Korean, we all know each others’ faces, who does their laundry on Saturday mornings, and who smokes in the stairwells, against the rules. We are also aware of the Black family that moved in last year, and the Indian family that moved in a few months ago. No one points them out nor shuts them out as the Korean woman did to Ellick, but the tenants are clearly not comfortable with the fact that non-Asian families are starting to settle down in the apartment. It is true that people of many ethnicities can mingle with each other freely and as friendly as Mehta describes in the Calloway Château. However, it is also true that many immigrants of certain ethnicities are afraid of other ethnicities and do not accept the “outsiders” warmly, as Ellick has experienced firsthand. To me, Mehta’s utopian apartment seems too good to be true. From my experience, when you mix different ethnicities in one apartment building, troubles are bound to rise. Many don’t like the Asians because “their food smells”. Others do not like the Blacks because “they are dirty”. And still others do not like Latinos because “they are loud”. Although these statements do not apply to every single member of the ethnicities, they are stereotypes that many people hold and it is very difficult to have a building of 110 families with not a single family holding stereotypes. In contrast, Ellick portrays his flawed approach as an “attempt to experience the exotic environments” that he dearly missed. I say flawed approach because Ellick thought of himself as a member of the community when in fact he was only a guest. In a neighborhood comprised of a select number of ethnicities, it is only natural that a white man like Ellick would’ve been regarded with wariness. I guess Ellick did not realize that he would’ve given the Korean woman a great deal of shock and fear when he tried to open the door of the bar – especially if she had illegal immigrants as her employees. In many of these neighborhoods, many families are illegal immigrants and do not welcome outsiders, Whites especially. They live in fear every day, hiding from whatever may reveal their legal status. Ellick simply was not careful enough when he was trying to fit in, and fortunately, he returned to his own enclave – back to his girl Manhattan.
When I was in elementary school up until middle school, my friend’s parents drove me to and from school along with their three children. My friend was Hindu, and I had known her since second grade – in other words, I was very, very close with her and her family. I was invited to every birthday party and every Friday, I stayed over at her house to do our homework, watch movies, and play on the Wii. Since our houses were only a 10 minute walk away, we practically lived at each others’ houses. I was friendly with her grandmother, and bickered with her younger brother as normal siblings would. Samosas were one of my favorite foods, and most days I reeked of incense from staying at her house for too long. By middle school, I was half Hindu. I knew some words in Hindi and I was able to name most foods that appeared on her table (most of which I forgot by now). However, no matter how long I stayed at her house, I was never able to understand all the religious rites and gods. I was not a religious person, and her family relied heavily on religion. However, this did not stop us from being good friends and understanding each others’ cultures.
