--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To many persons around him, he appears…" description: "\"“To many persons around him, he appears too much the academic. There may be some things about him that recall his beginnings—his shabby clothes; his pe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/richard-rodriguez-6515_brown-skin_to-many-persons-around-him-he-appears-to_1036542.jpg" --- # To many persons around him, he appears too much the… ![“To many persons around him, he appears too much the academic. There may be some things about him that recall his beginnings—his shabby clothes; his persistent poverty; or his dark skin (in those cases when it symbolizes his parents’ disadvantaged condition)—but they only make clear how far he has…” quote by Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/richard-rodriguez-6515_brown-skin_to-many-persons-around-him-he-appears-to_1036542.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/richard-rodriguez-6515_brown-skin_to-many-persons-around-him-he-appears-to_1036542.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/richard-rodriguez-6515_brown-skin_to-many-persons-around-him-he-appears-to_1036542.jpg) > ““To many persons around him, he appears too much the academic. There may be some things about him that recall his beginnings—his shabby clothes; his persistent poverty; or his dark skin (in those cases when it symbolizes his parents’ disadvantaged condition)—but they only make clear how far he has moved from his past. He has used education to remake himself. They expect—they want—a student less changed by his schooling. If the scholarship boy, from a past so distant from the classroom, could remain in some basic way unchanged, he would be able to prove that it is possible for anyone to become educated without basically changing from the person one was. The scholarship boy does not straddle, cannot reconcile, the two great opposing cultures of his life. His success is unromantic and plain. He sits in the classroom and offers those sitting beside him no calming reassurance about their own lives. He sits in the seminar room—a man with brown skin, the son of working-class Mexican immigrant parents.”” [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education can transform identity, but expectations often demand the scholar remain unchanged, creating cultural tension. **In simple terms:** Education changes people, yet society expects them to stay the same. Key Takeaway Balance personal growth with cultural expectations. Themes identity education culture class immigration expectations Mood reflective empathetic Type essay social commentary When to use this quote - College enrollment - scholarship programs - first‑generation student support - classroom dynamics Key Concepts Social mobility cultural assimilation class disparity educational impact Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions support identity evolution? - What policies help bridge cultural gaps in education? A Different Perspective Pressure to conform can cause alienation and mental strain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brown skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brown-skin/) [Dark skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-skin/) [Immigrant parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immigrant-parents/) ## Related quotes > [“This is what matters to me: the story of the scholarship boy who returns home one summer from college to discover bewildering silence, facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/this-is-what-matters-to-me-the-story-of-the-scholarship-boy-who/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I came out to my mom when I was 16. My parents are old school. They are immigrant parents, and when I came out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karine-jean-pierre/i-came-out-to-my-mom-when-i-was-16-my-parents-are-old-school-they-are/) [Karine Jean-Pierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karine-jean-pierre/) > [I was raised by extremely strict - but also extremely loving - Chinese immigrant parents, and I had the most wonderful childhood! I remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/i-was-raised-by-extremely-strict-but-also-extremely-loving-chinese/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [So I've got mates I've known since I was five years old. Their children know my children. There's something really lovely about it. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ainsley-harriott/so-i-ve-got-mates-i-ve-known-since-i-was-five-years-old-their/) [Ainsley Harriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ainsley-harriott/) > [“The stakes were just higher for her. She couldn’t afford to lose this story. She couldn’t afford to lose this job. People like Teddy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doree-shafrir/the-stakes-were-just-higher-for-her-she-couldn-t-afford-to-lose-this/) [Doree Shafrir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doree-shafrir/) > [“Immigrant parents, when they first move to North America, push towards whiteness, towards assimilation, to survive and thrive. Naturally, their children do too for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scaachi-koul/immigrant-parents-when-they-first-move-to-north-america-push-towards/) [Scaachi Koul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scaachi-koul/) > [I grew up in San Diego with immigrant parents, before the food blogs, before this kind of celebrity chef culture we know now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samin-nosrat/i-grew-up-in-san-diego-with-immigrant-parents-before-the-food-blogs/) [Samin Nosrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samin-nosrat/) > [I was raised, myself, by extremely strict but also extremely loving Chinese immigrant parents. To this day, I believe that their having high expectations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/i-was-raised-myself-by-extremely-strict-but-also-extremely-loving/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [I was born to Chinese immigrant parents, who came from Taiyuan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-pang/i-was-born-to-chinese-immigrant-parents-who-came-from-taiyuan/) [May Pang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-pang/) > [“Advance Praise for THE GREAT NEW ORLEANS KIDNAPPING CASE: RACE, LAW, AND JUSTICE IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA "Michael Ross' The Great New Orleans Kidnapping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-a-ross/advance-praise-for-the-great-new-orleans-kidnapping-case-race-law-and/) Michael A. Ross > [Growing up as the youngest daughter to immigrant parents, it was instilled in me from an early age to not be wasteful and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konnie-huq/growing-up-as-the-youngest-daughter-to-immigrant-parents-it-was/) [Konnie Huq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konnie-huq/) > [“One of my greatest fears is family decline.There’s an old Chinese saying that “prosperity can never last for three generations.” I’ll bet that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/one-of-my-greatest-fears-is-family-decline-there-s-an-old-chinese/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [I both loved and hated South Pasadena. On the one hand, it was so diverse - all my closest friends were immigrants or had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-both-loved-and-hated-south-pasadena-on-the-one-hand-it-was-so/) [Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/) > [First-generation children were strongly influenced by their immigrant parents approach to choice. For them, choice was not just a way of defining and asserting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/first-generation-children-were-strongly-influenced-by-their-immigrant/) [Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/) > [In our country, being from immigrant parents, growing up black in the South, coming out at 16 years old, being a teen parent... you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karamo-brown/in-our-country-being-from-immigrant-parents-growing-up-black-in-the/) [Karamo Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karamo-brown/) ## More by Richard Rodriguez > [“Human unhappiness is evidence of our immortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/human-unhappiness-is-evidence-of-our-immortality/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [In the Sacramento of the 1950s, it was as though White simply hadn't had time enough to figure Brown out. It was a busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/in-the-sacramento-of-the-1950s-it-was-as-though-white-simply-hadn-t/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Books should confuse. Literature abhors the typical. Literature flows to the particular, the mundane, the greasiness of paper, the taste of warm beer, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/books-should-confuse-literature-abhors-the-typical-literature-flows/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Mexico is sex and Canada is mind. There is much about Canada that I find admirable - the treatment of immigrants, for example, particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/mexico-is-sex-and-canada-is-mind-there-is-much-about-canada-that-i/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [My decision was sparked by affirmative action. There was a point in my life when affirmative action would have meant something to me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/my-decision-was-sparked-by-affirmative-action-there-was-a-point-in-my/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Who knows what Yale thought it was getting when it hired Richard Rodriguez? The people who offered me the job thought there was nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/who-knows-what-yale-thought-it-was-getting-when-it-hired-richard/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I have a good black friend who is a doctor, but he didn't become a doctor because he saw other black men who were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/i-have-a-good-black-friend-who-is-a-doctor-but-he-didn-t-become-a/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [In some ways I consider myself more Chinese, because I live in San Francisco, which is becoming a predominantly Asian city. I avoid falling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/in-some-ways-i-consider-myself-more-chinese-because-i-live-in-san/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I think the universities have co-opted the intellectual, by and large. But there is an emerging intellectual set coming out of Washington think tanks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/i-think-the-universities-have-co-opted-the-intellectual-by-and-large/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [You don't know Mexico, man. You have trivialized Mexico. You are a fool about Mexico if you think that Mexico is five blocks. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/you-don-t-know-mexico-man-you-have-trivialized-mexico-you-are-a-fool/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [After the second chapter of Days of Obligation, which is about the death of a friend of mine from AIDS, was published in Harper's,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/after-the-second-chapter-of-days-of-obligation-which-is-about-the/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [What has happened in the last generation is that Tijuana has become a new Third World capital - much to the chagrin of Mexico…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/what-has-happened-in-the-last-generation-is-that-tijuana-has-become-a/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [We're looking at complexity. We're looking at blond kids in Beverley Hills who can speak Spanish because they have been raised by Guatemalan nannies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/we-re-looking-at-complexity-we-re-looking-at-blond-kids-in-beverley/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Intimacy is not trapped within words. It passes through words. It passes. The truth is that intimates leave the room. Doors close. Faces move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/intimacy-is-not-trapped-within-words-it-passes-through-words-it/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [For me, diversity is not a value. Diversity is what you find in Northern Ireland. Diversity is Beirut. Diversity is brother killing brother. Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/for-me-diversity-is-not-a-value-diversity-is-what-you-find-in/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) [Explore all 99 Richard Rodriguez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) ## More Brown skin quotes > [Why should anyone think a white skin superior in evaluating the qualities of human life? I did not really admire a white skin so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/why-should-anyone-think-a-white-skin-superior-in-evaluating-the/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [“But then they rounded a corner and nearly collided with Kaltain Rompier. The assassin would have grimaced, but she forgot all about Kaltain as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/but-then-they-rounded-a-corner-and-nearly-collided-with-kaltain/) [Sarah J. 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