Orientalism and Westernism

The play was ok, but quite obviously on a mission; it was very passively didactic on two issues, the issue of feminism and of Orientalism, both of which were obviously critiqued in the play. There is much to say, if one wants to speak about either of these politico/social issues, but I do not. There was one line, however, that struck me, and I am not sure what it is doing. On page 1282 Song says “No, you wouldn’t. You’re a Westerner. How can you objectively judge your own values?” On the surface this seems like a critique of “Westerners” in that they try to justify their own actions and values in the face of others. However, looking at the statement a little deeper, there seems to be a bit of a warning here as well. David Hwang seems to be saying that the general grouping of peoples needs to be avoided. If a people cannot objectively understand their own values, another people, outside, are the only ones that can come close to understanding that people. Here Song claims that she can understand the “Western” values because she is not a “Westerner.” But does that imply then that a “Westerner” can understand an “Oriental.” I put “Westerner” in quotes, because that word does as much the same thing to “whites,” another word that generally groups together all British, French, Spanish, Swiss, German, Americans, Canadians, etc and can create a “Westernism.” Is Hwang saying that we need to be fair and not try to understand each other through arrogance because and outsider cannot understand someone else’s values? Is he saying that no people should be group under such a generalizing appellation? Or is there a double standard in terms of the message that Hwang is trying to teach?