In Class Writing Assignment: Ichiro Suzuki

1.Through his solid play for the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki demonstrated that someone does not have to belong to what is considered the "norm" in order to be successful and those that are considered different may be as good as the common standard.

2. The article is effective in demonstrating racial and ethnic fears and stereotypes in sports. The author shows that with baseball being the United State's "national pastime", it is something that is considered pure in its current state. Therefore, one who comes from a different cultural background and plays the game in an unfamiliar manner may pose a threat to those who are proponents of the sport's purity. Stereotypes are thus created to make the person and question seem as if they will not be able to do something because of their background. This was the case of baseball pundits doubting that Ichiro would be a successful hitter against "superior" American players.

3. In his article, Jay Caspian Kang demonstrates how players such as Ichiro Suzuki have made major strides towards creating more diversity in the sport. Kang states that despite negative assumptions from baseball pundits prior to his arrival in the United States, Ichiro has proven these pundits wrong through his continued success on the field. Kang's words form the idea that there is a sense of purity to the United States' version of the sport, therefore the success of anyone who is different may destroy that purity. However, for all of those who displayed disdain for players such as Ichiro, there are those who are not even associated with the particular ethnic group that embraces the player all in the same.

III. There were some things that I searched to get a better understanding of the essay. I found an encyclopedia article that explained to me who James Baldwin was, which gave me a better understanding for what he was writing about in the passage used by Kang. I also searched "Asian American" and "sports" to see how involved Asian American children are involved in sports activities. The article I found explained to me that people have created the perception that Asian American children strive in the fields of math and science, thus creating a self-perception in many Asian American children, which causes them to take part in more academically centered extracurriculars as opposed to more athletically centered extracurriculars.