World Literature in English
Mississippi Masala
 by Mira Nair
 
main characters:
Demetrius, Tyrone, Mina, Alicia LeShay, Jay, Okelo, Anil
 
Reviews
 
Racism in Mississippi Masala:
 
Group Report Outline
by Chad, Amanda, Scott and Felix
I. Introduction  
  • A conflict between Indians who have never been to India and Africans who have never been to Africa.
  • Define Masala relating it to the movie.  America as a big Masala, conflicts between the two specific group of diaspora, Afro-Americans and Indians. 
 
II. Racism 
1. problems caused by racism 
    a. Yugoslavia 
    b. Burma's case => economy & nativism 
    c. Paraguay's case => economy & nativism
III. The movie 
1. Influence of White towards Indians and Africans  
    a. leaving Uganda => picture 
    b. car conflict => union of Indians and Africans 
    c. in the bank => economically 
    d. lawyer => the origin / view of justice
2. The inferior culture VS the superior culture 
    a. Indians view themselves as White => the talk between Demitrius and Jay 
    b. Population => money is not equal to power ( Uganda ) => people is not equal to power ( USA ) 
3. union and contradiction 
    a. video clip ( the union of colored people ) 
    b. everybody is ready to laugh at Demitrius 
    c. fight between the union => Demitrius and Anai
4. lack of understanding  
    a. Demitrius' father => India turns into Indiana and Indianapolis 
    b. Confusion of Arabic and India 
IV.  Conclusion  
    Home is in our heart => solution ( Jay goes back to Uganda and finds himself the way of 
    communicating with Africans.
Q: Which one of the two cultures ( Indians and Black) would the new generation produced by Mina and Demitrius accept?