Papa: A discussion

I have chosen this article, which is entitled, Papa: A Philosopher, because it touched upon such sensitive topics such as racism, segregation in society, and the fear of accepting one’s roots. The thing that is interesting about the article is that although it has been published many years ago, the story, the values, and the issues that it contains are still valid in our time. In addition, the difficulties of being different and the realizations of trying to run away from reality are explained really well in the text.

The story was written by Leo Buscaglia, an Italian-American author, and in this story, he relates a story from his childhood days in which his people are called wops and dagos; he relates his painful experiences, where someone teased and bullied him for being an Italian; then afterwards, he thinks about disconnecting from his Italian roots, and finally, the climax of the story is that when he comes to his father, who told him to step up and accept the realities that surrounded him.

The main lesson that his father taught him was that “intolerance and discrimination are nothing but a refuge for weakness and incompetence”, and that one can only “expect understanding and acceptance” from “the strong”. Thus the story ends; and there certain things that need to be discussed, of course.

Why do people borrow strength from other people’s weaknesses? That is because they are afraid that those “other” people will eventually “subdue” them and make them into slaves. Actually, I believe that they are already slaves: They are enslaved to their own selves, unable to think or to change their position, simply because they have lost the option of being “human”.

On the other hand, I wonder why people want to dishonor their roots (and I’m really disgusted at why the writer thinks this way in the first place). I believe it is a result of seemingly endless social, emotional, and psychological pressures that have been imposed on him. If we notice, the first part of the story is nothing but a series of negative events; so it is understandable if he actually thinks about doing that awful thing.

The alternative solution to this problem would be for people to change themselves, and on a much simpler level, make them feel that they will be able to gain something of value if they try to change. After all, the father mentioned about people being “ignorant” of their values; that is why they are afraid of them.