Racial Autobiography Essay

Queens is one of the most diverse boroughs in New York. There is just about every ethnicity living in it. Growing up in Queens I adapted to the diverse environment at a very young age. Living in a diverse environment impacted my way of thinking and the way I act towards others.

Public schools depending on the area are typically very diverse. Although I lived in a predominately Caucasian area the schools that I attended from K-12 were very diverse. Along with diversity my public schooling treated everyone fairly disregarding gender and sexual orientation. Before I moved to queens I lived in Washington heights which mainly had people who were of my race. Schooling in Washington heights compared to schooling in my neighborhood

now differs in the sense that although my teachers were all Caucasian my peers and I were all Hispanic. Where I live now there are many different races other than my own. I am glad that I moved from Washington heights to where I live now because I got to along the years learn in a very diverse setting and make many friends from many different places other than where my family is from. Diversity in my public schooling exposed me to many different cultures other than my own.
As said in James A. Banks article Multicultural education: development, dimensions, and challenges he states that “multicultural education views citizen action to improve society as an integral part of education in a democracy; it links knowledge, values, empowerment, and action.” Having diversity in a classroom gives us an exposure to what the real world will be like. In life, you will work with and be around many people from different cultures. As Banks suggests diversity is crucial to a classroom setting and will only ring positive results. Being that the faculty in the schools I have attended were not as diverse as the student body in my school’s diversity in my curriculum was not something that was addressed. As for activities diversity took place in a sense that the students were able to work with peers that had different ethnicity’s other than their own.
As said in chapter one of Tatum’s chapter defining racism “the impact of racism begins early.

Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves.” From an early age, we start to pick up certain stereotypes of different races other than our own. We over hear these stereotypes from everywhere. Being in such a diverse environment and having attended very diverse school’s I am aware of all the different stereotypes but I learned to not judge anyone based on what is said about them. People who do not live in a culturally diverse area may be ethnocentric. Tatum also suggests that “the unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children. It is not our fault, but it Is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle.” Prejudices of other races based on what your family believes is something that should not be carried on because it is ignorant to assume certain things about someone’s race that you may in reality know nothing about. I agree with this quote because every race in some way will almost always feel superior to another race. Instead of feeling this sense of ethnocentrism and agreeing with the prejudices that were told from our generations we should be more open to learning about other races. What drew my attention reading Tatum’s first chapter was the fact that she addressed stereotype and

prejudices.
Something that in a way exposed me to the idea of diversity was in fourth grade when I was beginning to learn about what had happened in the civil rights movement. My fourth-grade teacher at the time separated all the people in the class who were fair skinned and children who were tanned or darker skinned. She made the people who were fair skinned wear blue and the people who were tanned skinned wear green. The people who wore the blue shirts were seen to be the better students of the class and were always called on and got rewards. They had a better water fountain than us and sat on one side of the lunch table. The kids who wore the green shirts sat on the other side. The children with the green shirts were not treated as nicely and were ignored. This went on for a week and then we all switched the next week to see what it is like to be on each side. This is something that helped me understand at a young age how important the civil rights movement was and how great it is that we now live in a more diverse and accepting world.
From fifth grade and on diversity was never addressed in the way that my fourth-grade teacher simplified it for me. teachers may have not felt the need to address the topic of diversity or equality. Instead they would have us interact with people in the class rooms, put people in groups and have them work together. Teachers everywhere always address racism briefly and discuss the times of slavery, the civil rights movement and what happened at the holocaust to teach us what happened during these times and how wrong it was to dehumanize people because of their ethnicity. The relative presence of diversity in my K-12 schooling prepared me to interact with individuals in many ways.
Attending public schools from such an early age was is what prepared me to adapt to diversity. Some ways in which I was exposed to diversity and prepared to live in this diverse world was, interacting with peers, working on projects and assignments with people in the classroom. Being amongst people of different races prepared me for the future and allowed me to make friends who have different beliefs or speak different languages other than what I speak.
Growing up in the area in which I live today has allowed me to learn in a very diverse setting at a very young age. This made me very fortunate because I was able to learn and be friends with people who were of many different nationalities. I was also fortunate because during my k-12 years everyone was treated as they should be, equally disregarding race, gender, or any disabilities a student may have. Being culturally diverse during k-12 years prepares you to live, and eventually work or be surrounded by many people who culturally differ from you. Although diversity in most of my schooling was implicitly taught, students already knew about the factors of diversity by their day to day interactions with students. Based on what they briefly teach you about racism in America we conclude that it is wrong for people to not treat each other’s without equality, respect or stereotype them based on what is said about their race. Living in a diverse world is something that was fought for by many people for many years and it is important that we take the morals that are presented in the classroom and treat everyone you would like to be treated.