Cultural Identity Reflection Paper
Annise P. Herbin
Eastern University
Introduction
Contemplation of the cultural self involves examination of the development of one’s personality, identity, character, behaviors, and cognitions. These aspects of existence are shaped by family and community and, for me, are elements I strive to connect to the scriptural assertion that humans are created in the image of God. Rubio (2003) states, “Humans aren’t meant to live alone. Rather, they are called to live in relationship—in community—with one another” (p. 186). These communal relationships influence the lens through which we interact with the world.
According to Santrock (2015), the family provides the initial examples of
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However murky the academic concept of race, the reality of racial issues, particularly in the south, is clear. I can only recall a few in-depth discussions about race with my family during childhood; however, racial ideologies and biases were very salient. They ranged from my mother changing the tone of her voice when she spoke to members of the dominant culture (she said she wanted to sound intelligent) to family members making comments that exposed their anger and frustration regarding current and past experiences. Remarks such as, “I don’t trust white people as far as I can throw them” or “Black people have to work twice as hard to get half of what Whites have” reverberated throughout my childhood by the elders in my maternal family. Growing up in the south marred and formed many of their perspective regarding the dominant race, which became paramount in their oral tradition. As I examine the residue that these comments left on my worldview, coupled with my own negative experiences with racism, I acknowledge the concern and reservation that I often feel when my teenage daughter enters settings where she is in the minority. While I don’t share my family’s stance on interracial interactions with her, the internal struggle that I experience becomes apparent through my constant query about the encounter and whether or not she made …show more content…
It is clear that cultural aspects of the self influence other facets of one’s existence. This is apparent in the overlap between my family’s religious ideology and ability. Unconsciously, the privilege of ableism has impacted our theological context. Consideration of the content of personal and family prayers illuminates the fact that they are filled with words of gratitude about the use of corporeal faculties. Mirroring the prayers of my mother and great grandmother, supplications are always preceded by appreciation for eyesight, hearing, speech, mobility, and clarity of
Many of the stereotypes we encounter and hold today were formed because of events in the past, which were formed to rationalize and justify past social and political agendas. Many of the stereotypes that we now hold today were learned long ago and have been passed from one generation to the next. This book has forever inspired me to believe in the value of each child and discourage racist attitudes wherever I encounter them. Gregory Howard Williams encountered many hurdles growing up and successfully defeated them all. He could have easily confirmed the expectations of his negative peers and developed into a self-fulfilling prophecy, but instead he chose to shun his stereotypes and triumph over incredible odds.
People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations.
When I was a sophomore in high school the first black family moved into a house just outside of Plymouth, where I grew up, and I recall my parents telling us that we should “stay away from their kind”. As a teenager I did not pay much attention, the children were younger than I was, I certainly did not have any reason to seek them out, so I didn’t. I do always remember that conversation with my parents, mostly because I did not quite understand why we should stay away from them. After graduation I moved to Appleton to attend school, this was my first personal experience with a person of color.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Firstly, I plan to explore how race has influenced my life. My mother is of Hispanic, and Irish decent whereas my father is of African decent. One of my earliest experiences with racism came from my mother’s side of the family. My grandmother would often say awful things about my dad to my brother and me when we visited and my parents were not around. She never hid how she felt about my parent’s relationship from us. My grandmother was opposed to my mother’s relationship with my father solely because he was, according to her, a “nigger” and of a different ethnic background and was not good enough for her daughter and that my mother was bringing shame to the family. My grandmother never accepted us whole-heartedly as her grandchildren compared to how she treated our other cousins simply because of their race and their complexion because they looked more like her side of the family than we did.
From an early age it was clear to Sandy that, the lighter a person’s skin was, the higher their social status. As the only young child in his household, he was exposed to many conversations among the adults around him that revolved around race. A primary example of this was one of the conversations between his grandmother, Aunt Hager, and her friend, Sister Whiteside. Sandy and the two elder women sat at the kitchen table together to share a meal while the two women chatted. Sandy sat quietly and absorbed their talk of everything from assuming the white ancestry of a lighter-skinned child they knew, to the difficulty of keeping “colored chillens in school” (13-15).
To begin with, culture is something that may change evolve within time but culture is something that come with your heritage or your ethnicity the traditions and things that happen that make up your culture like how your parents raised you are culture. In the informational text “ What is cultural identity” by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco, and in the personal essay “Ethnic Hash” by Patricia Williams, there are similarities and differences in how each writer conveys their message about cultural identity. Based upon their research, Trumbull and Pacheco present the idea that culture changes and that it will never stay the same, while Williams uses her personal experience to develop the idea that many things influence cultural inheritage but
In today’s society there are many words that are used or said without giving it complete thought. For example, the word “identity” is something to which I have never really given much thought or even considered how I identify myself.
Race has been a controversial issue throughout history and even more so today. The idea of race has contributed to the justifications of racial inequality and has led to the prejudice and discrimination of certain racial groups. Race and racism were constructed to disadvantage people of color and to maintain white power in America. Today, race has been the center of many political changes and actions that have affected people of color. The idea of race has played a role in how people from different racial groups interact amongst each other. Interactions within one’s own racial group are more common than interactions among other racial groups, at least in my own experiences. Therefore, because I have been positioned to surround myself with people from my own racial group since a very young age, I have internalized that being around my own racial group is a normal and natural occurrence.
Identity is defined as being oneself and not acting or being something else. The identity that one forms throughout their life time is a slow and tedious process, each and every event in one’s life whether it’s larger or small scale has an effect on developing ones overall identity. In the play Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth by Drew Hayden Taylor, Janice it caught between two identities and struggles to find a happy medium. Being adopted into a white family at a young age, Janice has become accustom to many of the white traditions and ways. Janice’s native family has recently gotten in touch with her and has put a great deal of pressure on her to regain some of the native culture she was born into. With pressure building Janice begins to question her identity and begins to show signs that she wants nothing to do with her native roots. Drew Hayden Taylor does an excellent job in this play showing how stereotypes and pre-conceived notions affect ones identity and their relationships within society. Each character within the play shows how their identity has been shaped through the relationships they have acquired throughout their lives; Tonto’s identity is heavily influenced by his father and best friend Rodney, Barb is influenced by the customs and traditional ways of her mother, and Janice after being adopted at a young age has formed an identity revolving around that of her adopted parents but she faces a great deal of pressure from her native birth family.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
There’s an Igbo and Yoruba proverb that states, “It takes a whole village to raise a child” (cite). This quote explains that a strong support system that is extended to relatives and family friends assists with an individual’s human behavior development and social environment. With African American culture, the relationship with religion entails that we possess a strong spiritual belief. Therefore shows that religion provides a sense of power and purpose greater than self through worship and praise as a substitute for mental and medical assistance in the African-American community. Hispanic cultures beliefs about health and illness The essence of both family and religion contributes similarities within these cultures because it helps with (idek). However, one of the differences of African-American and Hispanic cultures is their verbal and non-verbal communication (). For instance, Hispanics will not make direct eye contact as a sign of respect, uses a medium to high-level gestures, and their intrapersonal distance is less than an arm’s length. Alternatively, African-Americans typically convey themselves directly and lengthy for dialogue, uses frequent and sporadic large gestures, and interpersonal distance extends from appromixely four to twelve feet
No human being is culture free. We are a product of the many different cultures which surround us. Our values, worldview and experiences are structured by the society and culture that exert influences on our lives each day.
My culture identity, as I know it as is African American. My culture can be seen in food, literature, religion, language, the community, family structure, the individual, music, dance, art, and could be summed up as the symbolic level. Symbolic, because faith plays a major role in our daily lives through song, prayer, praise and worship. When I’m happy I rely on my faith, same as when I’m sad, for I know things will get better as they have before.
I have never really sat down and thought about my cultural identity, at least until I started this class. I never thought about how my identity was different than that of other members in my community. I also never put much mind to the communication challenges that I could face when speaking with members of my community. To be totally honest, there is more cultural differences that I have faced and actually paid attention to, and now I seem to understand the importance of how one culture differs from another.
How many times have people asked themselves, who am I? What defines me? Culture plays a very important role in the identity of people. People are born in a culture, their family's culture, but not with an already established culture. The term culture refers to the values, beliefs, customs, style of dress, food, songs and stories that are shared and learned in a characteristic group. On the other hand, identity is a set of features, attributes and characteristics that define a person. Identity is constructed by language, social structure, gender orientation and cultural patterns. Although many do not relate these two themes, there is a complex relationship between culture and identity.