I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir

Gharib dreams of going to college in New York. When she gets accepted to Syracuse University, her mother refinances the house. Her extended family pitches in to help with tuition on the condition that she “follow the pyramid of acceptable jobs” (87), which includes the medical field, law, engineering, and business. Her mother’s family is excited she is going to a “white school” so she can learn to adopt white mannerisms and culture.

Most people at Syracuse are white and Gharib thinks it is just like Felicity, a TV show about a white American girl who goes to college in New York City. Gharib has trouble telling white women apart, does not share the same cultural references as them, and comments too openly on their personal appearances, which she learns is “not cool” among white people but is “very normal in Asian culture” (93). She tries to assimilate, emulating white girls, kissing white boys, and pretending the bland dining hall food is her family’s cooking.

No one asks her “what are you?” (102), and she finds that she misses telling people about her heritage. When she makes her cultural foods, white peers complain about the smell. They often tell her, “I don’t see color” (102), which makes her mad.