First Impression

I thought Eli Clare's Exile and Pride was a very interesting read. I loved how he interweaved his experiences growing up in a rural town with his experiences as an adult living in a city. I found that I really connected with Clare when he described his half-truth school experiences. As a child, I grew up in a more affluent and white area of Los Angeles. My school only had a handful of minorities and I usually found myself to be the only minority in the classroom. As the years past, diversity definitely grew; however, during my first couple years of schooling, I was taught many half-truths--usually pro white half-truths. For example, when I was taught about Thanksgiving, I was taught that the Plymouth settlers were only a positive influence on the Native Americans. It was not even mentioned that the whites gave the Native Americans disease or forced the Native Americans off the Native Americans' hunting lands. It was only when I took AP US history did I learn about the harsh treatment of the Native Americans by white settlers. 

I also found the introduction of the book to be very interesting when Clare talked about being a person with cerebral palsy. I had an autistic cousin and saw first hand the different treatment he received. When I did see him at family reunions, I felt as if he was a one-man circus show. My relatives applauded and clapped when he sang the ABCs; as if they never thought that my cousin could ever learn the ABCs. Even in his funeral, I was appalled what a lot of my relatives said about him. Instead of praising his kind and caring character, they mentioned his achievements, which included learning how to read, greeting people, and writing bible verses. I found it depressing and disgusting to see my abled relatives tried to make an inspiration of my disabled cousin by using his achievements that further highlighted his disability.