Black vs White: The Missing Identity
One’s ethnic identity is crucial in the way one acts within his or her surroundings. Fitting in with a group never seemed to be a problem for me as I get along with all races just fine. Especially in elementary school, at that time it did not matter what the color of your skin was or how you acted, you were just you. Though as the years progressed into middle school and high school, I began to go through an identity crisis.
During my time spent in middle school most of my classmates were predominately white; due to that I picked up on many “characteristics” of my classmates, like every kid in middle school I just wanted to fit in. I dressed the way they did, spoke the way they did, shared the same interest, seemingly becoming further and further from my true race. I did not see “color”, and at first neither did my friends. It influenced me to the point where by high school I was called the “whitest black kid” in school.
At first it didn’t bother me, I was making good grades, had a plethora of good friends, a roof over my head, and an amazing family. Nevertheless, as the comments persisted I began to question who I was, who I identified with, and “what it
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In my mind that was not who I was nor what the average black person is, but who cares, who wants to be average. Who wakes up in the morning wanting to be the same as everyone else? Certainly not I, which is why I am proud of who I am. Although I don’t take the comment “being white” as a compliment, I do not take offense to it either. It has become so normal to me now that I no longer say “I’m not white” anymore because I know who I am, a well-educated, proud African American who is ready to change the
A post racial society is a society where racism and prejudice no longer exists. Barack Obama is the first African American to be the president of the United States. Some believe that since he was elected, there is no more racism and that we are now living in a post racial society. Although we have a black leader, racism still exists in many ways. While we have a black president, we are not living in post-racial America considering the existence of white privilege, the wage gap, and inequality in education.
Firstly, I identified myself as white. Being white in today’s society means you are automatically given privilege the second that you are born. Skin color is something that you carry with you your whole life. It cannot be changed and it will most likely be used against you or in your benefit at some point in your life. In America being white means that you are on the top of the social hierarchy, and that you are given the
One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents hesitate to talk to their children about racism because of embarrassment and the awkwardness of the subject. I agree with her when she says that parents don't want to talk about racism when they don't see a problem. They don't want to create fear or racism where none may exist. It is touchy subject because if not gone about right, you can perhaps steer someone the wrong way. Another theory she has on racial identity is that other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves. (tatum pp18) 'The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflects back to us.'; (Tatum pp21) What she means by this is that what other people tell us we are like is what we believe. If you are told you are stupid enough you might start to question your intelligence. When people are searching for their identity normally the questions 'who am I now?'; 'Who was I before?'; and 'who will I become'; are the first that come to mind. When a person starts to answer these questions their answers will influence their beliefs, type of work, where they may live, partners, as well as morals. She also mentions an experiment where she asked her students to describe themselves in sixty seconds. Most used descriptive words like friendly, shy, intelligent, but students of color usually state there racial or ethnic group, while white students rarely, if ever mention that they are white. Women usually mention that they are female while males usually don't think to say that they are males. The same situation appeared to take place when the topic of religious beliefs came up. The Jewish students mentioned being Je...
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
Attending a predominantly white school, white people were very interested, or rather over interested, in the so-called black culture. Being in a space that had minority black people, oppression was felt on the highest level. Anything that may have remotely involved the black skin, was downplayed and undermined, and more cases than one, my voice was silenced. From this experience, I started realising that wherever I may go, the female black body was not correctly or remotely represented positively in the media and in general society. For many years, as a regular television watcher, I began to realise that the media and entertainment industry did not put black women in power or inspiration, but women who are needy, sexual objects or women who play second best to men. In my educational systems, I have not been exposed to black lectures or teachers enough, and I realised that we were not being correctly and rightfully represented. As a black body, I am aware that I occupy space in a white environment, and that much of what I do is under the scope of white supremacy. Much of the experiences I have at my university are very much related to my racial profiling, and my level of intelligence is marked according to how I look eternally. Daily, I am constantly reminded that I am black as if it is something to be ashamed of social elite environment. In the article written by Dill and Zambara,
In school social circles, I always find myself "The Token Black Guy." I thought of this term for my role after viewing an episode of Scrubs on TV. I started thinking about the small number of black students at my school. It is something I have always turned a blind eye to.
This cognizance really ensued when I first started work as an educational therapist in a residential placement for severely emotionally disturbed teenage girls. Being in such a arbitrary position of power was difficult enough with people who have issues with control and lack of respect from elders but I also happened to be the only male ever in this position at the facility and a "white guy" to boot. Ninety percent of my clients happened to be Latina or African American. This ethnic flash point did not initially bother me because of my lack of awareness of its existence and my naive determination that it was not important for my therapeutic and educational goals. However, of course I had not really considered at that time what being 'white' really entails in this society. Consideration of one's identity is obviously key to successful educational and therapeutic interventions but it took the actual experience of being what I call "white-washed" to make me realize that skin color may actually have something important to do with one's perceived identity.
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.
I wanted to wear brand clothes/shoes they did, I wanted to do my hair like them, and make good grades like them. I wanted to fit in. My cultural identify took a back seat. But it was not long before I felt black and white did not mix. I must have heard too many comments asking to speak Haitian or I do not look Haitian, but more than that, I am black, so I always had to answer question about my hair or why my nose is big, and that I talked white. This feeling carried on to high school because the questions never went away and the distance between me and them grew larger. There was not much action my family could take for those moments in my life, but shared their encounters or conversations to show me I was not alone in dealing with people of other background. I surrounded myself with less white people and more people of color and today, not much has
Since Altoona is a primarily white city, I grew up being around white people 90% of the time. The only time I really spent being around blacks was with my father everyday, and with family members on my father's side. So of course I consider myself as being whiter because of the fact that I was raised mostly around white people. I know I don't look like the average white person, or the average black person, but who's to say what blacks and whites are suppose to look like. I have my own unique color. It is what my biracial friends a...
After writing my newspaper article on the NAACP, I realized that the African American community needed a renewed sense of belonging, like all the other communities have in this day in age. This sense of being is better known as equality. Webster’s dictionary defines equality as having the same rights, social status and opportunities as others. The African American community has yet to reach a plateau were they are seen as equals. Equalities for African Americans are still a foreign subject, but hopefully will progress in the future.
In the United States, its population consists of variety of races, ethnic and mixed groups including White Americans. Although the U.S is considered as a modern day melting pot country, White Americans are still considered the majority. Not only are they the majority in population, but they are also best known as the privileged population as well. Considering the diversity in the U.S, each person typically goes through a process of shaping their identity including White Americans. This process consists of experiences and influences from an individual, group and universal level. To be more in-depth regarding white racial identity development, the goal is to create an identity that is consistent of an individual’s increasing critical conscience
Race, as a general understanding is classifying someone based on how they look rather than who they are. It is based on a number of things but more than anything else it’s based on skin's melanin content. A “race” is a social construction which alters over the course of time due to historical and social pressures. Racial formation is defined as how race shapes and is shaped by social structure, and how racial categories are represented and given meaning in media, language and everyday life. Racial formation is something that we see changing overtime because it is rooted in our history. Racial formation also comes with other factors below it like racial projects. Racial projects seek
While I was growing up with my three siblings I lived a pretty boring life. I got almost anything I ever wanted, which got really old fast. I went to a pretty good private school and lived in a pretty wealthy town, which essentially meant that I was another rich white kid hanging around other rich white kids. I used to wear really nice clothes back when I was younger, but then I grew out of it. I had a lot of friends that really cared a lot about what brand they wore and would sometimes even make fun of me if I did not wear the same brand as them. All of that seemed really stupid and self-centered to me, and I was above all that nonsense. I mean who really cares where your shit came from; in the end it is still the same ugly piece of fabric as any other ugly piece of fabric.
The purpose of this paper is to cause the writer to reflect on the past and discover what incidents developed the writer’s ethnic identity. Ethnic identity is an essential aspect of the self that connects people of common heritage with a particular ethnic group, and is an important component of social development (Brown, Spatzier, & Tobin, 2010). Ethnic Identity is part of our self-concept and how we view ourselves and our relation to the groups we belong to. Before one can truly relate to people of different ethnicity than their own they need to understand their own ethnicity and how they came to identify with that group ethically.