My Race, Ethnic And Cultural Identity

I classify my race, ethnicity, and culture as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian helps me relate with my ethnicity.

My maternal grandfather impacted my development of my ethnic and cultural identity. He instilled a pride and an understanding of my Irish roots. Specifically, he brought me over to Belfast to learn and experience the culture. At the time, the hostility between the Protestants and Catholics was clear. People were living under the threats of terrorism, bombing, propaganda graffiti, and in a police state. In addition, I saw families torn apart because a mother was one religion and the father another. I learned firsthand about religious intolerance.

Equally, my paternal grandmother taught me about my Italian heritage. She would cook specialties from Sicily and tell me stories of her homeland. Likewise, my grandmother made sure I appreciated Sicilian traditions, superstitions, and the language. I am grateful to both my grandparents for exposing me to their cultures. I feel my identity matches the way others view me; but, I think other races fail to recognize there are many white cultures. To emphasize: Irish culture differs

Whites often inquire about the origin of his race and ethnicity. Jeremy states, whites are rude about race and fail to accept the complexities of bi-racialism. For example, a white friend insisted that Jeremy was not biracial because of the “one drop rule”. I was not familiar with this term; so, I “googled” it. According to Winthrop (2014), the rule states if a person has one drop of black blood then they are black (not biracial). With this in mind, Jeremy asserts he is black, but does not want others to define his