Essay On False Self

Growing up, social and economic minorities learn to be hyper-aware that each of their actions has social ramifications. One fears their actions will reflect poorly on his or her race, and that he or she owes to it his or her people to be better. One fears being caught up in the Cycle of Poverty, and feels he or she need to work twice as hard to have half of what everyone else has. They feel pressure to dress nice, and speak intelligently. To succeed, one will change their name, phase out his or her foreign accent, or abandons his or her cultural vernacular to sound more “proper.” This projected persona becomes the False Self, the one that hides the True Self and is necessary for survival. This new kind of social assimilation is the wolf in sheep’s clothing Yoshiko warns us about in his novel “Covering: The Hidden Assault on our Civil Rights.” Yoshino advocates for a society where the dichotomy between the True Self and the False Self is unnecessary, and we are as honest an unashamed as children. I agree with this dream.

Covering is indeed the hidden assault on our civil rights. From the need to cover in today’s society, disturbing connections can be drawn to the literal and cultural genocide of …show more content…
If we ever want to hope for equality, we must acknowledge and celebrate our differences, as the “American Melting Pot” Yoshino criticizes has failed to do. Before we have a world where everyone is equal, we must acknowledge not everyone is equal. Some people are more equal than others. Each person has a different history of oppression, has different levels of privilege and has different experiences with discrimination. When society acknowledge this, and accepts people as they truly are, perhaps then we can have a perfect world, like Yoshino dreams