The Black Lotus Book’s Relationship to Intersectionality

The novel “Black Lotus” by Sil Lai Abrams illustrates the tale of a Chinese American teen who tries to discover and embrace her biracial identity, while facing hardships. As a young girl, the main character Maui Native Abrams believed that her biracial existence originated from her Chinese American mother, Daisy, and her White father, George. George and Daisy justified Maui’s brown skin and curly hair as confirmation that she Hawaiian; however, they fail to note that neither one of them possess those traits.

Joined by “Addiction” the union between Daisy and George was not strong enough to withstand marriage. When Maui was 5, her parents separated due to Alcoholism and adultery. Abrams was left with her father, growing up around white family members. Because her family lacked diversity, Abrams constantly felt like she was out of place. Not only was her mother gone, but her physical appearance differed from those she surrounded herself with.

Abrams did some searching and found out the truth of her identity: her “brown skin and curly hair” resulted in her mother’s affair with an African American pilot.

From then on, Maui deviated from her father’s harsh and strict control. She turned to food, drugs, sex and similar to her mother, alcohol, to run from her problems. At the age of 18, she moved from Florida to New York to peruse a modeling career. With a change of surrounding, Abrams was exposed to multiple cultures, including those similar to hers. She was prompted to accept her blackness and love herself; however, with her addictions still present, she lost her job as a model and ended up becoming pregnant two different times by two different men.

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Even though faced with many hardships, the reuniting of with mother, the death of her sister, and the rejection of her relatives caused her to realize that the love for her two children kept her motivated. Owning her biracial identity ultimately empowered her throughout the story. This tale proves that one can always change their future even if they had a troubled past.

This book relates to the in class themes of intersectionality and identity development. Intersectionality is how the cross roads of race, gender, class, status and more, inform and transform one another. Some of Maui’s intersections present in the novel are race, gender and social status. She is a female composed of Africa American and Chinese decent, also having lived in poverty at one time in the story. When discussing intersectionality, it is often a battle of oppression. For example, black women are viewed to be more oppressed than white women, but poor black women are most oppressed compared to any other intersections. From an outside perspective, one would believe that Maui’s intersections cause her to be most suppressed and disadvantaged, living a challenging lifestyle; however, intersectionality is not competition.

It is actually the cross roads race, gender, and so fourth creating one’s identity. Throughout the duration of the novel, Maui struggled with these intersections, causing identity development issues. Identity development is how ones physical, mental and social characteristics shape one to create who they are. When discussing identity, there is no exact way to go about it, as everyone’s identity is different. There are factors that go contribute to it though, for example, in the book, Maui’s race shaped her identity. She at first believed she was half white, half Chinese with a darker complexion, but when she found out her truth, these issues started to arise. She struggled to make sense of her existence because she had been lied to. Not having supportive parents around made this journey even more difficult, it was hard articulating who she was. It is very important one knows truth of who they are and what aspects form their character. Intersectionality and identity development were both present in the story, impacting Maui’s life.

Regarding perspective on the book, I do believe it is a convincing story. The hardships that Maui faced are ones very prevalent in society today. First off, her identity crisis is one I can relate to. Even though I was not given false information about my character, I still combat conflicting ideas of who I am. Similar to Maui, yes I am I female, but what else beyond that, is gender the only thing shaping me? Aside from her identity, the story is very convincing, she gets pregnant at a young age, and moves away from home, thing a lot of teenagers do.

The main argument made in this story is even though one cannot change their history, they can work hard to rewrite their future. I agree with this argument because success does not come easily. If one works hard, they will reap the benefits. However, this argument can be denied due to the myth of meritocracy. This myth states when one works hard enough, they will end up where they want to. This fails to acknowledge that the the starting line is not always the same for everyone. In reference to intersections, white males are more likely to get a job compared to black women. This argument is true, but only to an extent.