The Foundation of My Identity

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Ronald Takaki, a frequent writer of cultural backgrounds, reminds us that, “America does not belong to one race or one group, the people in this study remind us, and Americans have been constantly redefining their national identity from the moment of first contact on the Virginia shore. By sharing their stories they invite us to see ourselves in a different mirror.“ Out of my fellow composition students, at State University, I am the only one whose great great grandparents came over to the USA. Out of twenty students, including myself, I found a surprising number of five parents, eight grandparents, and six great grandparents who immigrated to this wonderful country that we call America. Until recently I never would have never thought of myself anything other than American. I am part of the fifth generation of McComb’s here in Michigan, so it is very easy to conclude that I have completely assimilated to the “mainstream”-American culture. My great great grandparents were the ones who came over to America, around the late 1800s. Eventually all of them settled here in Michigan, this makes me a fifth generation American, plus fifth generation Michigander. I find it hard to conceive of any different culture other than “mainstream” culture difficult to explain because of my family’s strong American background. However, my own culture may be “mainstream”, but I also have many other distinctive cultural traits. In this essay I’ll give you a glimpse of what helped to form the social and the physical aspects of my cultural attributes.

McComb’s were supposed to have originated in Ireland, and came over here in the late 1800s. I know that my great great grandparent’s (grandma on dad’s side) one side came from England and the other from ...

... middle of paper ...

...rowing it down to GM only. I guess you could say I am continuing another trend by stating that “I will never live on a one-acre lot, living the urban lifestyle“. I feel so confined being in this little of area, you are right up against your neighbors, you there isn’t any privacy, you have such a small driveway, and I can’t conceive how you could possibly enjoy a wonderful day in your back yard looking at other houses, instead of a wonderful sunset with the beautiful foliage of trees everywhere you look.

Works Cited:

Blauner, Robert. “Talking Past Each Other: Black and White Languages About Race.” Bordertexts: Ed. Randall Bass. Boston: HM, 1999, 400-410

Takaki, Ronald. “A Different Mirror.” Bordertexts: Ed. Randall Bass. Boston: HM, 1999, 589-596

Arthur, Lance. “My Stupid Childhood” The Fray. 28 pars. 15 September 2000

http://www.fray.com/hope/childhood

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