Lauren Echols

Lori Bedell
CAS 137H
September 5, 2014
Americanah Response
I was truly enlightened by Ifemelus powerful viewpoint in
chapter 1 of Americanah. Being a white, middle-class woman I feel as
though I can never truly see our current society through the eyes of
minority groups residing here. From my point of view, America seems
to be a nation relatively unobstructed by racial and economical
barriers. For this exact reason, I found the ability to see America from
another point of view to be a vey meaningful exercise. I was
particularly fond of the way that Ifemelu, the main character, went
about displaying her understanding of community and civic after
spending 13 years in the United States. The part that spoke to me the
most in this chapter was the scene in the braiding salon. I found it very
interesting because knowing that Ifemelu was African made me
assume that she would be quick to strike up conversations with the
women in the salon that were experiencing very similar things to the
things she had when she moved to the United States 13 years before,
however her attitude towards these women was oddly hostile because
she was part of the American community and they were not. It seems
as if Ifemelu believed that being an American meant excluding and

neglecting immigrants and minorities. This really shocked me and

made me realize that the minorities in our country most likely feel the
same way; they feel as though they must leave behind their cultures to
be truly American citizens. I am thankful that someone has written
such a book to highlight the alienation of other cultures that has
become a part of our culture. I think that we can all find this piece of
work to be a valuable evaluation of our society from an outsiders
perspective.