Zubatov's archaic concepts of order

I find it incredibly frightening that someone could be living in the 1990's and be intelligent enough to attend Yale, yet still write an article as ignorant and outdated as Alex Zubatov's [Culinary Envy, 10/31/96, YH].

Zubatov's main point appears to be that minorities in America hold on to their cultures because of inferiority complexes derived from not fitting into American mainstream. He makes this contention despite the fact that mainstream American culture comprises a conglomeration of countless minority cultures. The reasoning behind Zubatov's theory, as well as his applications of it, are both ridiculous and offensive.

First he compares the fork to traditional Asian and African eating utensils--chopsticks and hands--and declares the fork the "clearly superior" utensil. Zubatov fails to consider, even in this simple analogy, that while the fork may be the most effective utensil for American food, it is far inferior to chopsticks or hands in eating most Asian or African foods. Surpassing even the offensiveness of this argument, Zubatov implies that Western civilization is "superior" to Asian and African cultures, which he dismisses as "counterintuitive," or backwards. In this era of diversity, how could one not recognize the merits of different cultures as different but equal--that is, equal as suited to different needs?

Zubatov cites minorities' use of other eating utensils instead of the "clearly superior" fork as an example of how minorities cling to their cultures when "no longer necessary or even appropriate." He claims they do this because they feel an "inferiority complex" in not fitting into mainstream American culture. Zubatov doesn't comprehend that these attachments come naturally from a comfort in following family traditions (especially when finding oneself separated from most of one's family) and from a healthy pride in heritage. In a land of immigrants, how could acting on these motivations ever be unnecessary or inappropriate?

Zubatov uses the phrases, "If you can't be good, be different," and "If you're losing the game, change the rules," to justify why minorities hold onto their cultures. He uses the analogy of a student who comes to Yale and feels "outclassed" in his knowledge of Western culture or literature and therefore takes classes in a completely unrelated subject. Tones of supremacy resound painfully through these sentences. Furthermore, Zubatov blatantly ignores the integral and essential role minority cultures play in American culture. By embracing one's roots, one does not turn one's back on American culture. The two are anything but separate entities.

Zubatov concludes with the argument that people identify with their culture only because they can't excel at anything substantial enough from which to gain identity and self-respect. He calls culture "the great given, the thing everyone has"--"the last resort" for gaining pride. Is culture not "substantial?" Isn't culture something from which to derive identity and pride? According to Zubatov, culture is the most superficial source from which to gain these things. On the contrary, those who turn their back on their cultures, especially minorities, miss out on an increased self-awareness, perspective and understanding. Everyone has roots but not everyone chooses to cultivate them. Culture cannot be "the great given" because only those who recognize that there is something to gain from culture identification can achieve that gain.

The illustration accompanying the article was particularly offensive, depicting an American flag and forks in a garbage can, a desk cluttered with so-called "Asian stuff" (a statue of Buddha, Chinese food, chopsticks, an English paper with a grade of F, a bottle of sake) and a hand holding a book entitled "Learning About My Heritage" published by Babybooks Co. and engraved with the phrase, "Why are you reading this?" I can only hope Zubatov instructed the artist what to draw, because I would hate to think that two people on campus share these repugnant views.

When I first read this article, I thought it must be a joke. In an way, writing this letter to the editor feels completely unnecessary. After all, we should all know this stuff by now, right? Alas, Zubatov's ludicrous thesis begged to be picked apart. Chopsticks would have proved quite useful.

--Sonushya Mathai, BK '99