"Thirteen Ways of Looking At The Bus" and it's representation of Race

A Bus Oh MyGod

It was interesting to me how easily this poem was able to convey the image of class and racism. "Filipinos/ are really/ hardworking./ Like the cleaner/ of/ hotel,/ nurse,/ nursing assistant/ cleaner of urine./" (17) She begins by mention Filipinos specifically, singling them out, then saying that they are hardworking, and good at cleaning. She throw's in a few higher class jobs, then end again on a low class position, "cleaner of urine," which ultimately summarizes her stereotype thought process. Not only does she point out other people on the bus, but also reverts the attention back to her, and what she is not because of the things she doesn't have. Throughout the poem, the idea of who she is seems to be void of an answer. She is a Hawaiian, is she not?
Again, to touch on my previous blog about the new generation of Hawaiian, this is another example. Culture's have fused, and it is becoming difficult to tell which attributes belong to which culture. While race, however, still remains a very prevalent dispute and one that is easy to identify. To me this poem captured the important of race in a culture, and how it has always been an issue of nativism, but now it has become as issue of racism. Then again, is it the race that she is pointing out on the bus? Or is she pointing out the hardworking culture of that particular race.
-Kaeliann Hulett