Personal Statement
Unlike many other kids at the age of seven I had already begun to face the subject of diversity. I learned at a young age that kids can be cruel. It is hard to recall exactly how many nights I prayed that I would wake up with golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I was too young to understand my deep-rooted family history, and why I looked different from many of the other kids at my elementary school. Several years later as a seventh grader, I was still struggling with my appearance.
I can vividly remember walking into my mother’s kindergarten class one day when I was job shadowing with her and having her introduce me to her class. Naturally, she explained how I was her daughter and that I was going to be spending the day with them. It was then that one little boy raised his hand and asked how I could be her daughter when I was Mexican and she was not. My mother responded to the boy’s question by explaining how I was not Mexican but rather Italian. As I stood there mortified and in tears she went into further detail clarifying how I looked unlike her because I was almost all Italian allowing me to have stronger Italian features while she was just a fraction Italian. It was that afternoon hours after my demeaning experience, that I became fascinated with finding out more about my Italian heritage.
I began by searching for the answers to the questions that many o...
In this article the author shares his experiences on racism throughout his life. As the author goes in to detail about his first encounter of racism from what he called a “well- taught baby racist” he presents an ugly setting. As children, we tend to imitate what we see and hear around us, evaluating the safe and unsafe places, people, and things. We determine and define our identities based on interactions with others. Dr. Jackson goes on to describe a time when he was in grade school which majority of the students were Caucasian seemed to be highly infatuated with the texture and tone of his skin as well as his hair.
In the Hawaiian culture, “Ohana” is a significant phrase referring to the bondage of family. There are many heritages across the world that have their own way of communicating that affection and showing their love to their own heritage. Hispanic heritage, for example, have the delicious food while other cultures have different focuses. Through heritage, communities find their niches in society to form an American Heritage. Though heritage exists through communities sharing a common culture, heritage definitely coincides with family and reigning stability within their niche. In the poem “Heritage” by Linda Hogan and the image “Mother Daughter Posing as Ourselves” by Elaine O’Neil, showing affection is one of the most prominent ways to communicate
"My Children are black. They don't look like your children. They know that they are black, and we want it recognized. It's a positive difference, an interesting difference, and a comfortable natural difference. At least it could be so, if you teachers learned to value difference more. What you value, you talk about.'" p.12
After my Grandfather died in the late 1960's, my Grandmother came to live with us for a short time. It was a wonderful way to learn about my heritage and I got to listen to her stories about when my Father was growing up in San Francisco. I remember a story she told me about when my Dad was around eight years old, about the same time Little Caesar was in the movie theaters. One day he came home from school and told my Grandmother that some kid at school told him that all Italians were cutthroats. My Grandmother got very upset and told him to ignore comments like that, that all it did was reveal the ignorance of the person making that remark, and to always take pride in who you are and your Italian heritage. My Dad looked at my Grandmother and very innocently asked her, "Ma, what's a cutthroat?"
My mother held her head high and told us that the only time we should ever feel ashamed or inferior is when we have forgotten who we are and our purpose because we are proud people with a wonderful heritage that doesn’t bow down or crumple. This memory reminds me every day that should be always proud of my heritage and ethnicity because these are the components that make me different that allow me to be loud and bright to be determined and ambitions just like my
It has been said that the physical variations in the human species have no meaning except the social one that humans put on them. Society has placed stigmas on race dating all the way back to the 1600s. Still in the 21st century the American society is still trying to work through racial boundaries. With such stigmas being placed on them, biracial individuals often self-identify or be identified by others differently, depending on the social context. A biracial individual’s racial identity development is contingent upon many factors, both internal and external. With the dramatic increase in the number of individuals with a bi or multiracial background it is important for us to recognize the complexity of the racial identity development of this culture. It is critical to understand the hardships as well as the advantages of being biracial, to help them avoid any negative behaviors which could yield lifelong consequences. The healthy development of one’s racial identity is imperative for a biracial child to be able to achieve and maintain a positive psychological and social adjustment throughout the lifespan.
When I was a toddler, I had blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin, and still presently do. My parents are Guatemalan, however they fit the stereotype of a Guatemalan, small, a bit chunky, and tan. My siblings also carry the same genes as my parents, but yet I stand out like the moon in a night sky. But just like the moon, the public looks at me different. Growing up in a hispanic community and having a Latino family I gained numerous titles for my abnormality. “Canche” is the George Clooney of my nicknames, it means white boy.
During the sixth grade, I encountered a critical stage in my life where I denied my heritage by saying that I was American. However, I never told my classmates I was a Latino. I didn't lie about my background or denied my race because everyone assumed that I was either Spanish or Portug...
Identity is a fundamental question that intrudes in biracial children’s minds. Since a biracial child usually inherits some traits from the maternal side and some from the paternal side, a biracial child is an amalgam of both races. Therefore, a seemingly simple question, “Who are you...
Discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudice are constant problems in society which are consistent at any age in all cultural and social settings. The results of discriminative behaviour against different children can impair psychological development and result in depression episodes which sometimes lead to suicide (Schoolboy bullied, 2009). Suicide among adolescents is not a new phenomenon, but discrimination based on appearance is definitely a form of catalyst that makes the pressure of growing up higher and unbearable (Konopka, 1983). This research will focus on discrimination against redheads because scientific research has covered other forms of discrimination based on appearance, but discrimination against redheads remains a neglected area in both society (Bellasugar Australia, 2009) and scientific research.
On the first day of school, I was in culture shock. There were so many different races of people: from Whites to Asians to Hispanics to Blacks. This diversity was foreign to me and the only diversity that I was exposed to ...
Just as Zora Neale Hurston explained in her article, “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” I never thought much about race until I was about thirteen years old during my junior high school years. As Zora stated, “I remember the very day that I became colored” (30). I, too, recall the day I realized that I was white and that it meant something more than just a Crayola color. No longer was white just a color; it was the race I belonged to with its own rules and regulations.
Throughout my life I have heard a wide range of stories from my parents. When putting this assignment together I have put these stories into account. Randall Bass, educator of English at Georgetown University, concurs that stories shape individuals ' personalities. Bass expresses that, "People infer their feeling of personality from their way of life, and societies are frameworks of conviction that decide how individuals experience their lives" (Bass 1). Social stories about family history, religion, nationality, and legacy impact individuals ' conduct and convictions. Personalities of diverse individuals originate from their societies. Narrating starts at home. Stories associate individuals to their frameworks of convictions. They shape individuals ' lives by giving them a model of how to live. Individuals get their most punctual learning from distinctive stories. (Bass)
Family history is very important to an individual. By knowing where you come from, you can have a better perspective of your life. Having a clear understanding of your family background allows you to better appreciate the things that you would normally take for granted. The house, the car, and the average clothing may look better when one sees the sacrifices their family has made. They will see that their family has worked very hard just so their family can experience the better things in life. A persons roots and origin is one of the most important things to explore. It alone can bring you closer to self-discovery.
Now that we have explored my past, present, and future experiences with diversity, it is time to see how they are present within and effect each other. Firstly, let’s look into how my future is present in my past. The most obvious portion of my future that is in my past is my willingness and efforts to love and include everyone and to spread this world view. It took a fellow classmate of mine to demonstrate to my third grade self that we are all human beings and we all deserve to be treated as such. In my future, I aspire to demonstrate this world view to my students and inspire them to treat each other accordingly. This aspiration directly reflects my world view struggles I went through in third grade, for I want to help my students come to