Racial segregation and discrimination is prevalent throughout literature and it is no accident. Racism in literature stems logically from the experiences of the authors and the treatment of minority's. Throughout Braided Lives, there were many short stories that dealt with pain and suffering because of racism. Each author has personal experiences in racism, and expressed how racism made them feel through their writings. Not being allowed in a restaurant, drink from an ordinary water fountain, or even judged before speaking is what several minorities went through in the short stories of Braided Lives. With their voices not heard minorities turned to literature. Braided Lives is not only a book of short stories but actual situations and events that occurred to real people. As Dian Glancy stated in her introductory essay "The Fire Dragon and Sweat", these are "stories of resilience, defiance, power, vision, toughness, pain, loss, anger, sarcasm, a humiliation built on welfare, a humor built on irony" (14).

Culture and tradition for most minorities has been the stronghold, which they have held on to. With repeated attempts of abolishment Native Americans still try to keep their heritage str

Racial prejudice can be brutal and painful, scaring minorities physically and mentally. During World War II after the Pearl Harbor bombing racism was the main reason for Japanese Americans to be ordered into internment camps. In David Mura's essay "Living In A Global Village" he brought out that "few people know that another motivation for removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast was economic- people wanted the land owned by Japanese' (233). Racism is not only brutal but in some cases can be used in very devious ways. Many storeowners who were racists wouldn't allow African Americans to shop at a particular store, and literature didn't have anything concerning other cultures either. In Audre Lorde's "Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name" this was the case. "There were stores into which Black people were not welcomed, and no Black salesperson worked in the shops at all. Where our money was taken, it was taken with reluctance" (186). Even literature was racially prejudiced in some way. "All of our story books were about people who were very different from us. They were blond and white and lived in houses with trees around and had dogs named spot" (188). All the chauvinistic tricks and tactics to destroy ones culture, heritage, and spirit a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Braided Lives, Native Americans, Dragon Sweat, Spelling Name, Latinos Individually, American Sometimes, LITERATURE Racial, West Coast, African Americans, native americans, short stories, Global Village, braided lives, throughout daily, prevalent throughout, stories braided lives, dragon sweat, stories braided, fire dragon, minorities stronghold, japanese americans, prevalent throughout literature, fire dragon sweat, native americans dealt, throughout daily life,
Approximate Word count = 840
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)