Ethnic Identity Reflection

This week our journal articles discussed ethnic identity. Even if culture and ethnicity weren’t your focus area I think everyone could benefit from reading articles like the ones we read for class this week. The readings this week discussed various components of the ethnic identity including the development of the ethnic identity and how ethnic people are perceived. In addition, the articles also discussed how white people come to terms with being an ethnicity and what that means in regards to their own personal biases. These articles made me reflect on race and culture in a way I normally wouldn’t think about, but I think it’s important for all people involved in both the social sciences and education field to have discussions about ethnicity.

(2014). In this article, Umana Taylor et al. (2014) discussed the development of the ethnic identity. They suggest that during adolescence as the child reaches cognitive maturity the ethnic or racial identity becomes more salient. I thought this was interesting because I tried to think back to the first time I thought about my own race. As the article suggested the only reason I noticed my race was due to the fact that people were starting to segregate themselves. Many of the people I went to school with were white and so many of my friends were white. As I progressed I noticed that I was the only one that looked like me in my "group". In turn, I noticed that the other black children at my school were in their own group and weren’t treated like everyone else. The article states that most studies on ethnic identity are conducted in college, while I think it’s important to look at ethnic identity in this context the formation of ethnic identity happens in a variety of environments. I think it would be beneficial to look at ethnic identity at predominantly white schools with very few minority students. The children that don’t have peers from the same background may have unique experiences and struggles that need to be researched in order to better serve the emotional well-being of all