Ignorance and Identity: Detriment of Cultural Segregation

We live in a world of differences. Our world differs view with the people we encounter, the things we learn and the ways we perceive things . We are world of individuals where no person is exactly alike or no group of people is exactly alike. Society is made up of different cultures and religions. Most of us belong to some type of group, these groups give us comfort, we are always more comfortable with those who are similar to us. But when does this become detrimental? Our grouping and separation becomes detrimental when we are presented with someone with differences. The lack of integration within different cultures in today’s society is what keeps us grounded in our own ignorance. It is detrimental to the individual because it keeps us from

To be put in a place of no diversity is detrimental and damaging to many aspects of one’s life. It comes to a point where one doesn’t even know themselves. By not having people different from who you are, you aren’t being challenged or reflecting on your own identity. By the lack of integration we are ultimately hurting ourselves. Audre Lorde says in her essay, The Fourth of July, that her parents ignored the prevalent racism, she says, “perhaps it would go away, deprived of her attention(Lorde 255).” By ignoring and not facing what is in front of her she is depriving herself of truly knowing her self. She is exhibiting the ignorance of the world around and within her. Hurston describes how she sometimes feels discriminated against but it doesn’t really make her angry, rather, “it merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? (Hurston 188)” again people are not making the necessary steps into meeting new people. Just think about the number of missed opportunities that occur when we aren’t able to make the move. Our existing prejudices and stereotype is what is hold us back from the acknowledgement of others, which leads to a detrimental state for our own sense of identity. How do we learn about our selves? The answer is through reflection; this reflection happens through seeing how others view themselves. In a world where people are separated, misjudged and misperceived, we

A common emotion that describers the African American community in the media is anger. Anger is often associated with being a negative emotion but it is not. Its important to feel intense emotions such as anger because if we didn’t we wouldn’t be human. Baldwin in Notes of a Native Son, describes the innate anger black people hold, “there is no negro alive who doesn’t have this rage in his blood- one has the choice, merely of living with it consciously or surrendering to in (Baldwin 57)”. He believes that all black Americans hold this innate sort of anger. I can definitely see how this is true. How many times can a group of people be beat down before someone becomes angry? With all people, sometimes the way anger is handled is done incorrectly. Its how we handle this anger, which is important. Putting this anger into a use of education, by educating the public about the injustices going on. This will then spark debates within the black community and across all racial barriers. It will break this barrier that puts us in a place of hate. Like previously mentioned, humans innately always want to be in the “in group”, it’s an evolutionary fact. To be placed out of a group is very detrimental to one’s emotional wellbeing. Society always wants to separate us, and this is done by our own wrong