FUNCTIONS OF REGIONALISM.
3
In” Borders," Laetitia tells her mother that her dad is an American and that she can go
and come back as she pleases. In "Two Kinds," Men's mother believes that one can be whatever
they want in America like you could open a restaurant, buy a house with no money down or
work for the government and get good retirement benefits. In both instances, we see that
regionalism brings a sense of identity to people, even when one is not from the host country or
region. It makes one to proudly identify themselves with a certain group of people, like Laetitia
being proud of her American dad and Mei’s mother being proud of her host country America.
Regionalism also enables people to study in different regions or countries. For example,
when Laetitia’s mother encounters a Canadian border guard who is friendly and after telling her
that she is a Blackfoot, she (the guard) tells her of another Blackfoot friend of hers, known as
Mike Harley who studies went to a school in Lethbridge (Thomas King, Also, in “Two Kinds”,
Jing May, whose mother is an immigrant from China, was taken to a beauty training school in
Mission District in America.
In conclusion, regionalism has a lot of benefits in the way in which countries relate with
each other. This boosts the economies of the countries and also provides a peaceful coexistence
between citizens of different regions, residing in one host country. These two stories prove that
these the borders of the regions are only physical, but regionalism breaks them.
